IMAGE  EVALUATION 
TEST  TARGET  (MT-3) 


1.0 


I.I 


Hi   125 


1^  ^ 


12.2 


m 


'^V-'tk 

^ 

6"     

► 

.> 


n 


Photographic 

Sciences 

Corporation 


23  WIST  MAIN  STRUT 

WEBSTiR,N.Y.  14S80 

( 71* )  •72*4503 


^^- 


'^ 


u. 


%o 


CIHM/ICMH 

Microfiche 

Series. 


CIHM/ICMH 
Collection  de 
microfiches. 


Canadian  Institute  for  Historical  Microreproductions  /  Institut  Canadian  de  microreproductions  historiques 


Technical  and  Bibliographic  Notes/Notes  techniques  et  bibliographiques 


The  Institute  has  attempted  tc  obtain  the  best 
original  copy  available  for  filming.  Features  of  this 
copy  which  may  be  bibliographically  unique, 
which  may  alter  any  of  the  images  in  the 
reproduction,  or  which  may  significantly  change 
the  usual  method  of  filming,  are  checked  uhIow. 


D 


D 


D 


D 


0 


Coloured  covers/ 
Couverture  de  couleur 


I      I    Covers  damaged/ 


Couverture  endommagie 


Covers  restored  and/or  laminated/ 
Couverture  restaurAe  et/ou  pellicula 


I      I    Cover  title  missing/ 


Le  titre  de  couverture  manque 


I      I   Coloured  maps/ 


Cartes  giographiques  en  couleur 


□    Coloured  ink  (i.e.  other  than  blue  or  black)/ 
Encre  de  couleur  (i.e.  autre  que  bleue  ou  noire) 

□   Coloured  plates  and/or  illustrations/ 
Planches  et/ou  illustrations  en  couleur 

□    Bound  with  other  material/ 
ReliA  avec  d'autres  documents 


Tight  binding  may  cause  shadows  or  distortion 
along  interior  margin/ 

La  re  liure  serrie  peut  causer  de  I'ombre  ou  de  la 
distortion  le  long  de  la  marge  intirieure 

Blank  leaves  added  during  restoration  may 
appear  within  the  text.  Whenever  possible,  these 
have  been  omitted  from  filming/ 
II  se  peut  que  certaines  pages  blanches  ajouttes 
lors  d'une  restauration  apparaissent  dans  le  texte, 
mais,  lorsque  cela  Atait  possible,  ces  pages  n'ont 
pas  Mt  fiimies. 


L'Institut  a  microfilm^  le  meilleur  exemplaire 
qu'il  lui  a  M  possible  de  se  procurer.  Les  details 
de  cet  exemplaire  qui  sont  peut-fttre  uniques  du 
point  de  vue  bibliographique.  qui  peuvent  modifier 
une  image  reproduite.  ou  qui  peuvent  exiger  une 
modification  dans  la  m6thode  normale  de  filmage 
sont  indiquAs  ci-dessous. 


I      I   Coloured  pages/ 


ca 


Additional  comments:/ 
Commentaires  suppl6mentaires: 


Various  pagingt. 


This  item  is  filmed  at  the  reduction  ratio  checked  below/ 

Ce  document  est  filmA  au  taux  de  rMuction  indiquA  ci-dessous. 


Pages  de  couleur 

Pages  damaged/ 
Pages  endommagdes 

Pages  restored  and/oi 

Pages  restaurdes  et/ou  pelliculdes 

Pages  discoloured,  stained  or  foxet 
Pages  ddcolor^es.  tacheties  ou  piqudes 

Pages  detached/ 
Pages  ditachdes 

Showthrough,' 
Transparence 

Quality  of  prin 

Qualiti  in6gale  de  I'impression 

Includes  supplementary  materii 
Comprend  du  materiel  suppl^mentaire 

Only  edition  available/ 
Seule  Edition  disponible 


I — I  Pages  damaged/ 

I      I  Pages  restored  and/or  laminated/ 

I      I  Pages  discoloured,  stained  or  foxed/ 

I      I  Pages  detached/ 

rTI  Showthrough/ 

I      I  Quality  of  print  varies/ 

I      I  Includes  supplementary  material/ 

I     I  Only  edition  available/ 


Pages  wholly  or  partially  obscured  by  errata 
slips,  tissues,  etc.,  have  been  refilmed  to 
ensure  the  best  possible  image/ 
Les  pages  totalement  ou  partieilament 
obscurcies  par  un  feuillet  d'errata.  une  pelure, 
etc.,  ont  6t6  fiimies  d  nouveau  de  fapon  d 
obtenir  la  meilleure  image  possible. 


The  c( 
to  the 


10X 

14X 

18X 

22X 

26X 

30X 

/ 

12X 

16X 

20X 

a4x 

28X 

32X 

The  in 
possib 
of  the 
fiimini 


Origin 
beginr 
tholai 
tion,  ( 
other ( 
first  pi 
sion,  I 
or  lllui 


Thola 
shall  e 
TINUE 
whichi 

Maps, 

differs 

entire 

begini 

rights 

requiri 

metha 


Th«  copy  filmed  h«r«  has  b««n  raproducad  thanks 
to  tha  ganarosity  of: 


L'axamplaira  filmA  fut  raproduit  grica  A  ta 
ginArositA  da: 


University  of  Calgary 


University  of  Calgary 


Tha  imagas  appaaring  hara  ara  tha  bast  quality 
possibia  considaring  tha  condition  and  lagibility 
of  tha  original  copy  and  In  kaaping  with  tha 
filming  contract  apacif Icationa. 


Original  coplas  in  printad  papar  covars  ara  flimad 
beginning  with  tha  front  covar  and  anding  on 
tha  laat  paga  with  a  printad  or  illuatratad  impraa- 
sion.  or  tha  back  covar  whan  appropriate.  All 
othar  original  eopiaa  ara  filmai  beginning  on  the 
first  paga  w<th  a  printad  or  illuatratad  impraa- 
sion.  and  anding  on  the  laat  page  with  a  printed 
or  illuatratad  Impreaaion. 


Las  imagas  suivantas  ont  it6  raproduites  avac  la 
plus  grand  soin.  compta  tanu  da  la  condition  at 
da  la  nattet*  da  l'axamplaira  film*,  at  an 
conformity  avac  lea  conditions  du  contrat  da 
filmaga. 

Lea  exemplairaa  originaux  dont  la  couvartura  an 
papier  est  imprimte  sont  filmis  an  commanpant 
par  la  premier  plat  at  an  tarminant  soit  par  la 
derniAre  paga  qui  comporta  una  emprainta 
d'impraasion  ou  d'iilustration,  soit  par  la  second 
plat,  salon  ie  caa.  Tous  las  autras  axamplairas 
originaux  sont  filmis  an  commandant  par  la 
pramlAre  page  qui  comporte  une  empreinte 
d'impreaaion  ou  d'iilustration  at  an  tarminant  par 
la  darniire  page  qui  comporte  une  telle 
empreinte. 


The  laat  recorded  freme  on  each  microfiche 
shall  contain  the  symbol  ^^  (meenhig  "CON- 
TINUED"), or  the  symbol  V  (meening  "END"), 
whichever  appiiea. 


Un  das  symbol^js  suivanta  apparaitra  sur  la 
derniAre  image  de  cheque  microfiche,  seion  Ie 
caa:  la  symbols  ^-^  signifie  "A  SUiVRE",  Ie 
symbols  V  signifie  "FIN". 


Mapa.  platee.  eharta.  etc..  may  be  filmed  at 
different  reduction  ratioa.  Thoaa  too  large  to  be 
entirely  included  in  one  expoaure  ara  filmed 
beginning  in  the  upper  left  hand  corner,  left  to 
right  end  top  to  bottom,  as  many  framea  aa 
required.  The  following  diagrama  illuatrate  the 
method: 


Lea  cartaa.  planches,  tableaux,  etc..  pauvent  dtre 
filmte  A  dea  taux  da  rMuction  diffArants. 
Lorsqua  la  document  est  trop  grand  pour  dtra 
reproduit  en  un  seul  clichA.  il  est  f iim*  d  partir 
de  i'angia  supArieur  gauche,  de  gauche  d  droite. 
et  de  haut  en  baa.  an  prenant  la  nombre 
d'imagea  nicaaaaira.  Lea  diagrammas  suivanta 
illuatrent  la  mAthoda. 


1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

^1 


Lyrics  of  Lowly  Life 


I 


?..,.:! 


PJ 


II 


CSi^^^L^. 


/ 


(:^\^  -x 


Life 


« ..,1 


' )    t-    .  ■' 


^^j,***!******"*"'" 


■  :"~   - '   .'        '.  -  ■'  7''  /i  js- 


''*'.^<..w^..-  . '''-iS-'^/. 


i 


Lyrics  of  Lowly  Life 


1 


By 

Paul  Laurence  Dunbar 


With 
An  Introduction  by  W.  D.  Howells 


New  York 

Dodd,  Mead  and  Company 

1897 


I 


vl] 


Copyright,  1895,  1896, 
By  the  Century  Company. 

Copyright,  1896, 
By  Dodd,  Mead  and  Company. 


All  rights  reserved. 


John  Wilson  and  Son,  Cambridge,  U.S.A. 


JY. 


TO 


\NY. 


MY  MOTHER. 


,  U.S.A. 


CONTENTS 


PAGE 

Introdttction    . xiii 

Ere    Sleep    comes    down    to    soothe    the 

Weary  Eyes i 

The  Poet  and  his  Song a 

Retort g 

Accountability g 

Frederick  Douglass 3 

Life 

The  Lesson j 

The  Rising  of  the  Storm j^ 

Sunset , 

10 

The  Old  Afple-Tree j- 

A  Prayer 

.20 

Passion  and  Love 

The  Seedling  .... 

22 

Promise  and  Fulfilment ^-x 

Song 

25 

An  Ante-Bellum  Sermon 26 

Ode  to  Ethiopia  ... 

"    •    * 30 

The  Corn-stalk  Fiddle ^- 

Vll 


i 


•  .    fii 


I  f' 


Contents 

PAGE 

The  Master-Player 35 

The  Mystery 36 

Not  They  who  Soar 37 

Whittier 38 

Two  Songs 39 

A  Banjo  Song 42 

Longing 45 

The  Path 46 

The  Lawyers'  Ways 47 

Ode  for  Memorial  Day 49 

Premonition 51 

Retrospection 52 

Unexpressed 55 

Song  of  Summer 56 

Spring  Song 58 

To  Louise 59 

The  Rivals 61 

The  Lover  and  the  Moon 66 

Conscience  and  Remorse 69 

loNE 70 

Religion 82 

Deacon  Jones'  Grievance 83 

Alice    .    .    > 87 

After  the  Quarrel 88 

Beyond  the  Years 90 

After  a  Visit 91 

vui 


Contents 

PAGE 

Curtain 93 

The  Spellin'-Bee 93 

Keep  a-pluggin'  away 102 

Night  of  Love 104 

Columbian  Ode 105 

A  Border  Ballad 108 

An  Easy-goin'  Feller 109 

A  Negro  Love  Song no 

The  Dilettante:  a  Modern  Type  ....  112 

By  the  Stream 113 

The  Colored  Soldiers 114 

Nature  and  Art 118 

After  While 120 

The  Ol'  Tunes 122 

Melancholia 125 

The  Wooing 128 

Merry  Autumn 130 

When  de  Co'n  Pone  's  Hot 132 

Ballad 135 

The  Change  has  Come 136 

Comparison 137 

A  Corn-Song 137 

Discovered , 139 

Disappointed 141 

Invitation  to  Love 142 

He  had  his  Dream 143 

ix 


Contents 

PAGE 

Good-Night i44 

A  Coquette  Conquered 145 

Nora:  a  Serenade 146 

October 148 

A  Summer's  Night i49 

Ships  that  pass  in  the  Night 150 

The  Delinquent iS' 

Dawn iS3 

A  Drowsy  Day iS3 

Dirge ISS 

Hymn i57 

Preparation 158 

The  Deserted  Plantation 158 

The  Secret 161 

The  Wind  and  the  Sea 162 

Riding  to  Town 165 

We  wear  the  Mask 167 

The  Meadow  Lark 168 

One  Life 169 

Changing  Time 171 

Dead 172 

A  Confidence 173 

Phyllis 177 

Right's  Security 178 

If 179 

The  Song 180 

X 


Contents 

PAGR 

Signs  of  the  Times 182 

Why  fades  a  Dream  ? 184 

The  Sparrow 185 

SpEAKIN'  O'  CHRISTMAt: 186 

Lonesome 189 

Growin'  Gray 192 

To  THE  Memory  of  Mary  Young     ....  193 

When  Malindy  Sings 195 

The  Party 199 


- ;  :,1 


xi 


INTRODUCTION. 

I  THINK  I  should  scarcely  trouble  the 
reader  with  a  special  appeal  in  behalf  of 
this  book,  if  it  had  not  specially  appealed  to 
me  for  reasons  apart  from  the  author's  race, 
origin,  and  condition.  The  world  is  too  old 
now,  and  I  find  myself  too  much  of  its  mood, 
to  care  for  the  work  of  a  poet  because  he  is 
black,  because  his  father  and  mother  were 
slaves,  because  he  was,  before  and  after  he 
began  to  write  poems,  an  elevator-boy.  These 
facts  would  certainly  attract  me  to  him  as  a 
man,  if  I  knew  him  to  have  a  literary  ambition, 
but  when  it  came  to  his  literary  art,  I  must 
judge  it  irrespective  of  these  facts,  and  enjoy 
or  endure  it  for  what  it  was  in  itself. 

It  seems  to  me  that  this  was  my  experience 
with  the  poetry  of  Paul  Laurence  Dunbar  when  I 

xiii 


i. 


■l 


i/  i 


'--  f 


V- 


Introduction. 

found  it  in  another  form,  and  in  justice  to  him 
I  cannot  wish  that  it  should  be  otherwise  with 
his  readers  here.  Still,  it  will  legitimately 
interest  those  who  like  to  know  the  causes,  or, 
if  these  may  not  be  known,  the  sources,  of 
things,  to  learn  that  the  father  and  mother  of 
the  first  poet  of  his  race  in  our  language  were 
negroes  without  admixture  of  white  blood. 
The  father  escaped  from  slavery  in  Kentucky 
to  freedom  in  Canada,  while  there  was  still  no 
hope  of  freedom  otherwise ;  but  the  mother 
was  fre  d  by  the  events  of  the  civil  war,  and 
came  North  to  Ohio,  where  their  son  was  born 
at  Dayton,  and  grew  up  with  such  chances  and 
mischances  for  mental  training  as  everywhere 
befall  the  children  of  the  poor.  He  has  told 
me  that  his  father  picked  up  the  trade  of  a 
plasterer,  and  when  he  had  taught  himself  to 
read,  loved  chiefly  to  read  history.  The  boy's 
mother  shared  his  passion  for  literature,  with 
a  special  love  of  poetry,  and  after  the  father 
died  she  struggled  on  in  more  than  the  poverty 
she  had  shared  with  him.     She  could  value  the 

xiv 


) 


-r~m 


Intro4uction. 

faculty  which  her  son  showed  first  in  prose 
sketches  and  attempts  at  fiction,  and  she  was 
proud  of  the  praise  and  kindness  they  won 
him  among  the  people  of  the  town,  where  he 
has  never  been  without  the  warmest  and  kind- 
est friends. 

In  fact,  from  every  part  of  Ohio  and  from 
several  cities  of  the  adjoining  States,  there  came 
letters  in  cordial  appreciation  of  the  critical 
recognition  which  it  was  my  pleasure  no  less 
than  my  duty  to  offer  Paul  Dunbar's  work  in 
another  place.  It  seemed  to  me  a  happy  omen 
for  him  that  so  many  people  who  had  known 
him,  or  known  of  him,  were  glad  of  a  stranger's 
good  word ;  and  it  was  gratifying  to  see  that  at 
home  he  was  esteemed  for  the  things  he  had 
done  rather  than  because  as  the  son  of  negro 
slaves  he  had  done  them.  If  a  prophet  is 
often  without  honor  in  his  own  country,  it 
surely  is  nothing  against  him  when  he  has  it. 
In  this  case  it  deprived  me  of  the  glory  of  a 
discoverer ;  but  that  is  sometimes  a  barren  joy, 
and  I  am  always  willing  to  forego  it. 

XV 


.)! 


hii 

1     !  1  T  1 


'■    ,  i 


r. 


^-  < 


r 


/ 


t; 


Introduction. 

What  struck  me  in  reading  Mr.  Dunbar's 
poetry  was  what  had  already  struck  his  friends 
in  Ohio  and  Indiana,  in  Kentucky  and  Illinois. 
They  had  felt,  as  I  felt,  that  however  gifted  his 
race  had  proven  itself  in  music,  in  oratory,  in 
several  of  the  other  arts,  here  was  the  first  in- 
stance of  an  American  negro  who  had  evinced 
innate  distinction  in  literature.  In  my  criticism 
of  his  book  I  had  alleged  Dumas  in  France, 
and  I  had  forgetfully  failed  to  allege  the  far 
greater  Pushkin  in  Russia ;  but  these  were  both 
mulattoes,  who  might  have  been  supposed  to 
derive  their  qualities  from  white  blood  vastly 
more  artistic  than  ours,  and  who  were  the 
creatures  of  an  environment  more  favorable  to 
their  literary  development.  So  far  as  I  could 
remember,  Paul  Dunbar  was  the  only  man  of 
pure  African  blood  and  of  American  civiliza- 
tion to  feel  the  negro  life  aesthetically  and 
express  it  lyrically.  It  seemed  to  me  that  this 
had  come  to  its  most  modern  consciousness 
in  him,  and  that  his  brilliant  and  unique 
achievement  was  to  have  studied  the  American 

xvi 


-^-.'7!.;: 


Introduction. 


negio  objectively,  and  to  have  represented  him 
as  he  found  him  to  be,  with  humor,  with 
sympathy,  and  yet  with  what  the  reader  must 
instinctively  feel  to  be  entire  truthfulness.  I 
said  that  a  race  which  had  come  to  this  effect 
in  any  member  of  it,  had  attained  civilization 
in  him,  and  I  permitted  myself  the  imaginative 
prophecy  that  the  hostilities  and  the  prejudices 
which  had  so  long  constrained  his  race  were 
destined  to  vanish  in  the  arts ;  that  these  were 
to  be  the  final  proof  that  God  had  made  of  one 
blood  all  nations  of  men.  I  thought  his  merits 
positive  and  not  comparative ;  and  I  held  that 
if  his  black  poems  had  been  written  by  a  white 
man,  I  should  not  have  found  them  less  ad- 
mirable. I  accepted  them  as  an  evidence  of 
the  essential  unity  of  the  human  race,  which 
does  not  think  r  feel  black  in  one  and  white 
in  another,  but  humanly  in  all. 

Yet  it  appeared  to  me  then,  and  it  appears 
to  me  now,  that  there  is  a  precious  difference 
of  temperament  between  the  races  which  it 
would  be  a  great  pity  ever  to  lose,  and  that 


xvii 


Introduction. 


N    I 


■'    i! 


It- 


this  is  best  preserved  and  most  charmingly 
suggested  by  Mr.  Dunbar  in  those  pieces  of 
his  where  he  studies  the  moods  and  traits  of  his 
race  in  its  own  accent  of  our  PJnglish.  We  call 
such  pieces  dialect  pieces  for  want  of  some  closer 
phrase,  but  they  are  really  not  dialect  so  much 
as  delightful  personal  attempts  and  failures  for 
the  written  and  spoken  language.  In  nothing 
is  his  essentially  refined  and  delicate  art  so  well 
shown  as  in  these  pieces,  which,  as  I  ventured 
to  say,  describe  the  range  between  appetite  and 
emotion,  with  certain  lifts  far  beyond  and 
above  it,  which  is  the  range  of  the  race.  He 
reveals  in  these  a  finely  ironical  perception  of 
the  negro's  limitations,  with  a  tenderness  for 
them  which  I  think  so  very  rare  as  to  be 
almost  quite  new.  I  should  say,  perhaps,  that 
it  was  this  humorous  quality  which  Mr.  Dunbar 
had  added  to  our  literature,  and  it  would  be 
this  which  would  most  distinguish  him,  now 
and  hereafter.  It  is  something  that  one  feels 
in  nearly  all  the  dialect  pieces;  and  I  hope 
that  in  the  present  collection  he  has  kept  all 


xvui 


.    { 


Introduction. 


of  these  in  his  earlier  volume,  and  added  others 
to  them.  But  the  contents  of  this  book  are 
wholly  of  his  own  choosing,  and  I  do  not  know 
how  much  or  little  he  may  have  preferred  the 
poems  in  literary  English.  Some  of  these  I 
thought  very  good,  and  even  more  than  very 
good,  but  not  distinctively  his  contribution  to 
the  body  of  American  poetry.  What  I  mean 
is  that  several  people  might  have  written  them  ; 
but  I  do  not  know  any  one  else  at  present  who 
could  quite  have  written  the  dialect  pieces. 
These  are  divinations  and  reports  of  what 
passes  in  the  hearts  and  minds  of  a  lowly 
people  whose  poetry  had  hitherto  been  in- 
articulately expressed  in  music,  but  now  finds, 
for  the  first  time  in  our  tongue,  literary  inter- 
pretation of  a  very  artistic  completeness. 

I  say  the  event  is  interesting,  but  how  im- 
portant it  shall  be  can  be  determined  only  by 
Mr.  Dunbar's  future  performance.  I  cannot 
undertake  to  prophesy  concerning  this ;  but  if 
he  should  do  nothing  more  than  he  has  done, 
I  should  feel  that  he  had  made  the  strongest 


r 
J 'J 

jr 
4' 


XIX 


Introduction. 


V 


claim  for  the  negro  in  English  literature  that 
the  negro  has  yet  made.  He  has  at  least  pro- 
duced something  that,  however  we  may  critically 
disagree  about  it,  we  cannot  well  refuse  to 
enjoy ;  in  more  than  one  piece  he  has  pro- 
duced a  work  of  art. 

W.  D.   HOWELLS. 


[i    i 


\i  ^ 


A 
1 


XX 


I  literature  that 
las  at  least  pro- 
ve  may  critically 
well  refuse  to 
e  he  has  pro- 

K  HOWELLS. 


Lyrics  of  Lowly   Life. 

ERE    SLEEP    COMES    DOWN    TO 
SOOTHE  THE  WEARY  EYES. 

ERE  sleep  comes  down  to  soothe  the  weary 
eyes, 
Which  all  the  day  with  ceaseless  care  have 
sought 
The  magic  gold  which  from  the  seeker  flies ; 
Ere  dreams  put  on  the   gown  and  cap  of 
thought, 
And  make  the  waking  world  a  world  of  lies,  — 

Of  lies  most  palpable,  uncouth,  forlorn, 
That  say  life's  full  of  aches  and  tears  and  sighs,  — 
Oh,  how  with  more  than  dreams  the  soul  is 
torn. 
Ere  sleep  comes  down  to  soothe  the  weary  eyes. 
1  I 


jy 


-# 


Lyrics  of  Lowly  Life. 


I' 


Ere  sleep  comes  down  to  soothe  the  weary  eyes, 
How  all  the  griefs  and  heartaches  we  have 
known 
Come  up  like  pois'nous  vapors  that  arise 

From  some  base  witch's  caldron,  when  the 
crone. 
To  work  some  potent  spell,  her  magic  plies. 

The  past  which  held  its  share  of  bitter  pain, 
Whose    ghost    we    prayed    that    Time    might 
exorcise. 
Comes  up,  is  lived  and  suffered  o'er  again. 
Ere  sleep  comes  down  to  soothe  the  weary  eyes. 


E 

T 


Ere  sleep  comes  down  to  soothe  the  weary  eyes. 

What  phantoms  fill  the  dimly  lighted  room ; 
What  ghostly  shades  in  awe-creating  guise 

Are  bodied  forth  within  the  teeming  gloom. 
What  echoes  faint  of  sad  and  soul-sick  cries, 

And  pangs  of  vague  inexplicable  pain 
That  pay  the  spirit's  ceaseless  enterprise, 

Come  thronging  through  the  chambers  of  the 
brain. 
Ere  sleep  comes  down  to  soothe  the  weary  eyes. 


I 


Life. 

the  weary  eyes, 
aches  we  have 

lat  arise 

ron,  when  the 

nagic  plies. 
3f  bitter  pain, 
Time    might 

I  o'er  again, 
he  weary  eyes. 

he  weary  eyes, 
?hted  room ; 
ng  guise 
ming  gloom, 
sick  cries, 
;  pain 
rprise, 
imbers  of  the 

e  weary  eyes. 


Lyrics  of  Lowly  Life. 

Ere  sleep  comes  down  to  soothe  the  weary  eyes, 

Where  ranges  forth  the  spirit  far  and  free  ? 
Through   what  strange   realms  and  unfamiliar 
skies 

Tends  her  far  course  to  lands  of  mystery? 
To  lands  unspeakable — beyond  surmise, 

Where  shapes  unknowable  to  being  spring, 
Till,  faint  of  wing,  the  Fancy  fails  and  dies 

Much  wearied  with  the  spirit's  journeying, 
Ere  sleep  comes  down  to  soothe  the  weary  eyes. 

Ere  sleep  comes  down  to  soothe  the  weary  eyes. 

How  questioneth  the  soul  that  other  soul,  — 
The  inner  sense  which  neither  cheats  nor  lies, 

But  self  exposes  unto  self,  a  scroll 
Full  writ  with  all  life's  acts  unwise  or  wise. 

In  characters  indelible  and  known ; 
So,  trembling  with  the  shock  of  sad  surprise. 

The  soul  doth  view  its  awful  self  alone, 
Ere  sleep  comes  down  to  soothe  the  weary  eyes. 

When  sleep  comes  down  to  seal  the  weary  eyes. 
The  last  dear  sleep  whose  soft  embrace  is  balm, 


iiij 


^^ 


1       ',' 


Lyrics  of  Lowly  Life. 

And  whom  sad  sorrow  teaches  us  to  prize 
For  kissing  all  our  passions  into  calm, 

Ah,  then,  no  more  we  heed  the  sad  world's  cries, 
Or  seek  to  probe  th'  eternal  mystery. 

Or  fret  our  souls  at  long-withheld  replies, 
At  glooms  through  which  our  visions  cannot  see, 

When  sleep  comes  down  to  seal  the  weary  eyes. 


THE  POET   AND  HIS  SONG. 

A  SONG  is  but  a  little  thing, 
And  yet  what  joy  it  is  to  sing  1 
In  hours  of  toil  it  gives  me  zest. 
And  when  at  eve  I  long  for  rest ; 
When  cows  come  home  along  the  bars, 

And  in  the  fold  I  hear  the  bell, 
As  Night,  the  shepherd,  herds  his  stars, 
I  sing  my  song,  and  all  is  well. 

There  are  no  ears  to  hear  my  lays. 
No  lips  to  lift  a  word  of  praise  ; 
But  still,  with  faith  unfaltering, 
I  live  and  laugh  and  love  and  sing. 

4 


i 


-ife. 

to  prize 
0  calm, 

i  world's  cries, 
y'stery, 

replies, 

)ns  cannot  see, 
le  weary  eyes. 

SONG. 

to  sing  I 

St, 

^st; 

the  bars, 
bell, 

his  stars, 
11. 

ays. 


mg. 


Lyrics  of  Lowly  Life. 

What  matters  yon  unheeding  throng? 

They  cannot  feel  my  spirit's  spell. 
Since  life  is  sweet  and  love  is  long, 

I  sing  my  song,  and  all  is  well. 

My  days  are  never  days  of  ease ; 
I  till  my  ground  and  prune  my  trees. 
When  ripened  gold  is  all  the  plain, 
I  put  my  sickle  to  the  grain. 
I  labor  hard,  and  toil  and  sweat, 

While  others  dream  within  the  dell ; 
But  even  while  my  brow  is  wet, 

I  sing  my  song,  and  all  is  well. 

Sometimes  the  sun,  unkindly  hot. 
My  garden  makes  a  desert  spot ; 
Sometimes  a  blight  upon  the  tree 
Takes  all  my  fruit  away  from  me ; 
And  then  with  throes  of  bitter  pain 

Rebellious  passions  rise  and  swell ; 
But  —  life  is  more  than  fruit  or  grain. 

And  so  I  sing,  and  all  is  well. 


J 'J 


J 


i 


n 


I, 


■1 

\' 

■ 

'      1 

, 

■  i 

{ 


Lyrics  of  Lowly  Life. 


RETORT. 


tt 


^     { 


THOU  art  a  fool,"  said  my  head  to  my 
heart, 
"  Indeed,  the  greatest  of  fools  thou  art. 

To  be  led  astray  by  the  trick  of  a  tress, 
By  a  smiling  face  or  a  ribbon  smart ;  " 
And  my  heart  was  in  sore  distress. 

Then  Phyllis  came  by,  and  her  face  was  fair, 
The  light  gleamed  soft  on  her  raven  hair ; 

And  her  lips  were  blooming  a  rosy  red. 
Then  my  heart  spoke  out  with  a  right  bold  air : 

"  Thou  art  worse  than  a  fool,  O  head  !  " 


'!    ! 


ACCOUNTABILITY. 

FOLKS  ain't  got  no  right  to  censuah  othah 
folks  about  dey  habits ; 
Him  dat  giv'  de  squir'ls  de  bushtails  made  de 
bobtails  fu'  de  rabbits. 

6 


i  I 


Afe. 


'  head  to  my 


art, 
1  tress, 


M 


s. 

was  fair, 

hair  ; 
y  red. 

It  bold  air  ; 
ead  1  " 


iuah  othah 
made  de 


Lyrics  of  Lowly  Life. 

Him  dat  built  de  gread  big  mountains  hollered 

out  de  little  valleys, 
Him  dat  made  de  streets  an'  driveways  wasn't 

shamed  to  make  de  alleys. 

We  is  all  constructed  diff' ent,  d'ain't  no  two  of 

us  de  same ; 
We  cain't  he'p  ouah  likes  an'  dislikes,  ef  we  'se 

bad  we  ain't  to  blame. 
Ef  we  'se  good,  we  need  n't  show  off,  case  you 

bet  it  ain't  ouah  doin' 
We  gits  into  su'ttain  channels  dat  we  jes'  cain't 

he'p  pu'suin'. 

But  we  all  fits  into  places  dat  no  othah  ones 

could  fill, 
An'  we  does  the  things  we  has  to,  big  er  little, 

good  er  ill. 
John  cain't  tek  de  place  o'  Henry,  Su  an'  Sally 

ain't  alike ; 
Bass  ain't  nuthin'   like   a   suckah,   chub   ain't 

nuthin*  like  a  pike. 

7 


•^1 


il   t 


\    ^ 


Lyrics  of  Lowly  Life. 

When  you  come  to  think  about  it,  how  it 's  all 

planned  out  it 's  splendid. 
Nuthin  's  done  er  evah   happens,   'dout  hit 's 

somefin'  dat's  intended; 
Don't  keer  whut  you  does,  you  has  to,  an'  hit 

sholy  beats  de  dickens,  — 
Viney,  go  put  on  de  kittle,  I  got  one  o'  mastah's 

chickens. 


ui 


FREDERICK  DOUGLASS. 

A  HUSH  is  over  all  the  teeming  lists. 
And  there  is  pause,  a  breath-space  in 
the  strife ; 
A  spirit  brave  has  passed  beyond  the  mists 
And  vapors  that  obscure  the  sun  of  life. 
And  Ethiopia,  with  bosom  torn. 
Laments  the  passing  of  her  noblest  born. 


She  weeps  for  him  a  mother's  burning  tears  — 
She  loved  him  with  a  mother's  deepest  love. 

He  was  her  champion  thro'  direful  years. 
And  held  her  weal  all  other  ends  above. 

8 


1 


!        1 


k'-^fti 


r  it 's  all 
ut  hit's 
,  an'  hit 
nastah's 


pace  in 
ts 

2. 


irs  — 
love. 


Lyrics  of  Lowly  Life. 

When  Bondage  held  her  bleeding  in  the  dust, 
He  raised  her  up  and  whispered,  "  Hope  and 
Trust." 

For  her  his  voice,  a  fearless  clarion,  rung 
That  broke  in  warning  on  the  ears  of  men ; 

For  her  the  strong  bow  of  his  power  he  strung. 
And  sent  his  arrows  to  the  veiy  den 

Where  grim  Oppression  held  his  bloody  place 

And  gloated  o'er  the  mis'ries  of  a  race. 

And  he  was  no  soft-tongued  apologist ; 

He  spoke  straightforward,  fearlessly  uncowed ; 
The  sunlight  of  his  truth  dispelled  the  mist. 

And  set  in  bold  relief  each  dark-hued  cloud ; 
To  sin  and  crime  he  gave  their  proper  hue, 
And  hurled  at  evil  what  was  evil's  due. 

Through  good  and  ill  report  he  cleaved  his  way 
Right  onward,  with  his  face  set  toward  the 
heights, 
Nor  feared  to  face  the  foeman's  dread  array,  — 

The  lash  of  scorn,  the  sting  of  petty  spites. 
He  dared  the  lightning  in  the  lightning's  track, 
And  answered  thunder  with  his  thunder  back. 

9 


J 


if 


I' ) 


J. 

4»' 


\  I 


Lyrics  of  Lowly  Life. 

When   men  maligned  him,   and   their  torrent 
wrath 

In  furious  imprecations  o'er  him  broke, 
He  kept  his  counsel  as  he  kept  his  path  ; 

'T  was  for  his  race,  not  for  himself,  he  spoke. 
He  knew  the  import  of  his  Master's  call. 
And  felt  himself  too  mighty  to  be  small. 

No  miser  in  the  good  he  held  was  he,  — 
His  kindness  followed  his  horizon's  rim. 

His  heart,  his  talents,  and  his  hands  were  free 
To  all  who  truly  needed  aught  of  him. 

Where  poverty  and  ignorance  were  rife. 

He  gave  his  bounty  as  he  gave  his  life. 

The  place  and  cause  that  first  aroused  his  might 
Still  proved  its  power  until  his  latest  day. 

In  Freedom's  lists  and  for  the  aid  of  Right 
Still  in  the  foremost  rank  he  waged  the  fray ; 

Wrong  lived  ;  his  occupation  was  not  gone. 

He  died  in  action  with  his  armor  on  ! 

We  weep  for  him,  but  we  have  touched  his  hand, 
And  felt  the  magic  of  his  presence  nigh, 

10 


I 


J-L. 


Ban 


Lyrics  of  Lowly  Life. 


nr  torrent 


The  current  that  he  sent  throughout  the  land, 

The  kindling  spirit  of  his  battle-cry. 
O'er  all  that  holds  us  we  shall  triumph  yet, 
And  place  our  banner  where  his  hopes  were  set ! 

Oh,  Douglass,  thou  hast  passed  beyond  the  shore, 

But  still  thy  voice  is  ringing  o'er  the  gale  ! 
Thou  'st  taught  thy  race  how  high  her  hopes  may 
soar, 
And  bade  her  seek  the  heights,  nor  faint,  nor 
fail. 
She  will  not  fail,  she  heeds  thy  stirring  cry. 
She  knows  thy  guardian  spirit  will  be  nigh, 
And,  rising  from  beneath  the  chast'ning  rod. 
She  stretches  out  her  bleeding  hands  to  God  ! 


I'     »M 


LIFE. 

A  CRUST  of  bread  and  a  corner  to  sleep  in, 
A  minute  to  smile  and  an  hour  to  weep  in, 
A  pint  of  joy  to  a  peck  of  trouble, 
And  never  a  laugh  but  the  moans  come  double  ; 
And  that  is  life  ! 
II 


« I 

I -J 
I 

>.. ., 


-      f 

V' 


\ 

.J   > 


Lyrics  of  Lowly  Life. 

A  crust  and  a  corner  that  love  makes  precious, 
With  the  smile  to  warm  and  the  tears  to  re- 
fresh us; 
And  joy  seems  sweeter  when  cares  come  after, 
And  a  moan  is  the  finest  of  foils  for  laughter ; 
And  that  is  life  ! 

THE   LESSON. 

MY  cot  was  down  by  a  cypress  grove, 
And  I  sat  by  my  window  the  whole 
night  long, 
And  heard  well  up  from  the  deep  dark  wood 
A  mocking-bird's  passionate  song. 

And  I  thought  of  myself  so  sad  and  lone. 
And   my  life's   cold   winter  that   knew   no 
spring ; 

Of  my  mind  so  weary  and  sick  and  wild. 
Of  my  heart  too  sad  to  sing. 

But  e'en  as  I  listened  the  mock-bird's  song, 
A  thought  stole  into  my  saddened  heart, 

And  I  said,  "  I  can  cheer  some  other  soul 
By  a  carol's  simple  art." 

12 


r'* 


1    ! 


J.i. 


imm 


Lyrics  of  Lowly  Life. 

For  oft  from  the  darkness  of  hearts  and  lives 
Come  songs  that  brim  with  joy  and  light, 

As  out  of  the  gloom  of  the  cypress  grove 
The  mocking-bird  sings  at  night. 

So  I  sang  a  lay  for  a  brother's  ear 

In  a  strain  to  soothe  his  bleeding  heart, 

And  he  smiled  at  the  sound  of  my  voice  and 
lyre, 
Though  mine  was  a  feeble  art. 

But  at  his  smile  I  smiled  in  turn, 
And  into  my  soul  there  came  a  ray : 

In  trying  to  soothe  another's  woes 
Mine  own  had  passed  away. 


I   'M 


THE  RISING  OF  THE  STORM. 

THE  lake's  dark  breast 
Is  all  unrest. 
It  heaves  with  a  sob  and  a  sigh. 
Like  a  tremulous  bird. 
From  its  slumber  stirred, 
The  moon  is  a-tilt  in  the  sky. 
13 


t'* 


'■^'  ( 


i'-X 


^i 


•i!  ' 


i\) 


I' 

I 


1' 


t^ 


Lyrics  of  Lowly  Life. 

From  the  silent  deep 

The  waters  sweep, 
But  faint  on  the  cold  white  stones, 

And  the  wavelets  fly 

With  a  plaintive  cry 
O'er  the  old  earth's  bare,  bleak  bones. 

And  the  spray  iipsprings 

On  its  ghost-white  wings, 
And  tosses  a  kiss  at  the  stars ; 

While  a  water- sprite, 

In  sea-pearls  dight, 
Hums  a  sea-hymn's  solemn  bars. 

Far  out  in  the  night, 

On  the  wavering  sight 
I  see  a  dark  hull  loom ; 

And  its  light  on  high, 

Like  a  Cyclops'  eye, 
Shines  out  through  the  mist  and  gbom. 


^1 


Now  the  winds  well  up 
From  the  earth's  deep  cup. 


Jl 


mmmtm 


Lyrics  of  Lowly  Life. 

And  fall  on  the  sea  and  shore, 
And  against  the  pier 
The  waters  rear 

And  break  with  a  sullen  roar. 


1 


)nes. 


Dom. 


Up  comes  the  gale, 

And  the  mist- wrought  veil 
Gives  way  to  the  lightning's  glare, 

And  the  cloud-drifts  fall, 

A  sombre  pall, 
O'er  water,  earth,  and  air. 

The  storm-king  flies. 

His  whip  he  plies. 
And  bellows  down  the  wind. 

The  lightning  rash 

With  blinding  flash 
Comes  pricking  on  behind. 

Rise,  waters,  rise. 
And  taunt  the  skies 
With  your  swift-flitting  form. 
Sweep,  wild  winds,  sweep, 
IS 


4f" 

ff 


^;' 


if  j 

lb 
1.1 


1)5 


I-yrics  of  Lowly  Life. 

And  tear  the  deep 
To  atoms  in  the  storm. 

And  the  waters  leapt, 

And  the  wild  winds  swept, 
And  blew  out  the  moon  in  the  sky, 

And  I  laughed  with  glee, 

It  was  joy  to  me 
As  the  storm  went  raging  by  ! 


SUNSET. 

THE  river  sleeps  beneath  the  sky, 
And  clasps  the  shadows  to  its  breast ; 
The  crescent  moon  shines  dim  on  high ; 
And  in  the  lately  radiant  west 
The  gold  is  fading  into  gray. 
Now  stills  the  lark  his  festive  lay, 
And  mourns  with  me  the  dying  day. 

While  in  the  south  the  first  faint  star 
Lifts  to  the  nigh";  its  silver  face, 

And  twinkles  to  the  moon  afar 
Across  the  heaven's  graying  space, 

i6 


;! 


Lyrics  of  Lowly  Life. 

Low  murmurs  reach  me  from  the  town, 
As  Day  puts  on  her  sombre  crown, 
And  shakes  her  mantle  darkly  down. 


THE  OLD  APPLE-TREE. 

THERE  's  a  memory  keeps  a-runnin' 
Through  my  weary  head  to-night, 
An'  I  see  a  picture  dancin' 

In  the  fire-flames'  ruddy  light ; 
'T  is  the  picture  of  an  orchard 

Wrapped  in  autumn's  purple  haze, 
With  the  tender  light  about  it 

That  I  loved  in  other  days. 
An'  a-standin'  in  a  corner 

Once  again  I  seem  to  see 
The  verdant  leaves  an'  branches 

Of  an  old  apple-tree. 

You  perhaps  would  call  it  ugly, 
An'  I  don't  know  but  it 's  so. 

When  you  look  the  tree  all  over 
Unadorned  by  memory's  glow ; 

a  17 


h.\ 

•A 


V    i:i 


r  { 


^  I 


Lyrics  of  Lowly  Life. 

For  its  boughs  are  gnarled  an'  crooked, 

An'  its  leaves  are  gettin'  thin, 
An'  the  apples  of  its  bearin' 

Would  n't  fill  so  large  a  bin 
As  they  used  to.     But  I  tell  you, 

When  it  comes  to  pleasin'  me, 
It 's  the  dearest  in  the  orchard,  — 

Is  that  old  apple-tree. 

I  would  hide  within  its  shelter, 

Settlin'  in  some  cosy  nook. 
Where  no  calls  nor  threats  could  stir  me 

From  the  pages  o'  my  book. 
Oh,  that  quiet,  sweet  seclusion 

In  its  fulness  passeth  words  ! 
It  was  deeper  than  the  deepest 

That  my  sanctum  now  affords. 
Why,  the  jaybirds  an'  the  robins. 

They  was  hand  in  glove  with  me, 
As  they  winked  at  me  an'  warbled 

In  that  old  apple -tree. 

It  was  on  its  sturdy  branches 
That  in  summers  long  ago 
18 


ru- 


rooked, 


e, 


Id  stir  me 


Is. 

IS, 

I  me, 
.led 


Lyrics  of  Lowly  Life. 

I  would  tie  my  swing  an'  dangle 

In  contentment  to  an'  fro, 
Idly  dreamin'  childish  fancies, 

Buildin'  castles  in  the  air, 
Makin'  o'  myself  a  hero 

Of  romances  rich  an'  rare. 
I  kin  shet  my  eyes  an'  see  it 

Jest  as  plain  as  plain  kin  be, 
That  same  old  swing  a-danglin' 

To  the  old  apple-tree. 

There  's  a  rustic  seat  beneath  it 

That  I  never  kin  forget. 
It  *s  the  place  where  me  an'  Hallie  - 

Little  sweetheart  —  used  to  set. 
When  we  'd  wander  to  the  orchard 

So 's  no  listenin'  ones  could  hear 
As  I  whispered  sugared  nonsense 

Into  her  little  willin'  ear. 
Now  my  gray  old  wife  is  Hallie, 

An'  I  'm  grayer  still  than  she. 
But  I  '11  not  forget  our  courtin' 

'Neath  the  old  apple-tree. 
19 


M 


Lyrics  of  Lowly  Life. 

Life  for  us  ain't  all  been  summer, 

But  I  guess  we  've  had  our  share 
Of  its  flittin'  joys  an*  pleasures, 

An'  a  sprinklin'  of  its  care. 
Oft  the  skies  have  smiled  upon  us ; 

Then  again  we  've  seen  'em  frown. 
Though  our  load  was  ne'er  so  heavy 

That  we  longed  to  lay  it  down. 
But  when  death  does  come  a-callin', 

This  my  last  request  shall  be,  — 
That  they  '11  bury  me  an'  Hallie 

'Neath  the  old  apple-tree. 


i  \ 


A  PRAYER. 

OLORD,  the  hard-won  miles 
Have  worn  my  stumbling  feet : 
Oh,  soothe  me  with  thy  smiles. 
And  make  my  life  complete. 

The  thorns  were  thick  and  keen 
Where'er  I  trembling  trod ; 

The  way  was  long  between 
My  wounded  feet  and  God. 

20 


Lyrics  of  Lowly  Life. 

Where  healing  waters  flow 
Do  thou  my  footsteps  lead. 

My  heart  is  aching  so ; 
Thy  gracious  balm  I  need. 

PASSION   AND  LOVE. 

A  MAIDEN  wept  and,  as  a  comforter, 
Came  one  who  cried,  "  I  love  thee," 
and  he  seized 
Her  in  his  arms  and  kissed  her  with  hot  breath, 
That  dried  the  tears  upon  her  flaming  cheeks. 
While  evermore  his  boldly  blazing  eye 
Burned  into  hers ;  but  she  uncomforted 
Shrank  from  his  arms  and  only  wept  the  more. 

Then  one  came  and  gazed  mutely  in  her  face 
With  wide  and  wistful  eyes ;  but  still  aloof 
He  held  himself;  as  with  a  reverent  fear, 
As  one  who  knows  some  sacred  presence  nigh. 
And  as  she  wept  he  mingled  tear  with  tear, 
That  cheered  her  soul  like  dew  a  dusty  flower,  — 
Until  she  smiled,  approached,  and  touched  his 
hand ! 

21 


/I 


/ 


n 


Lyrics  of  Lowly  Life. 


THE  SEEDLING. 


I  .1 


i 


As  a  quiet  little  seedling 
Lay  within  its  darksome  bed, 
To  itself  it  fell  a-talking, 
And  this  is  what  it  said  : 

"  I  am  not  so  very  robust, 
But  I  '11  do  the  best  I  can ;  " 

And  the  seedling  from  that  moment 
Its  work  of  life  began. 

So  it  pushed  a  litde  leaflet 

Up  into  the  light  of  day. 
To  examine  the  surroundings 

And  show  the  rest  the  way. 

The  leaflet  liked  the  prospect, 
So  it  called  its  brother,  Stem ; 

Then  two  other  leaflets  heard  it, 
And  quickly  followed  them. 

To  be  sure,  the  haste  and  hurry 
Made  the  seedling  sweat  and  pant ; 

22 


I    :v 


:L 


Lyrics  of  Lowly  Life. 

But  almost  before  it  knew  it 
It  found  itself  a  plant. 

The  sunshine  poured  upon  it, 

And  the  clouds  they  gave  a  shower ; 

And  the  little  plant  kept  growing 
Till  it  found  itself  a  flower. 

Little  folks,  be  like  the  seedling, 

Always  do  the  best  you  can ; 
Every  child  must  share  life's  labor 

Just  as  well  as  every  man. 

And  the  sun  and  showers  will  help  you 
Through  the  lonesome,  struggling  hours, 

Till  you  raise  to  light  and  beauty 
Virtue's  fair,  unfading  flowers. 


•4' 


PROMISE. 

I  GREW  a  rose  within  a  garden  fair. 
And,  tending  it  with  more  than  loving  care, 
I  thought  how,  with  the  glory  of  its  bloom, 
I  should  the  darkness  of  my  life  illume ; 

23 


1*^ 


ill 


1, 


I 


If 

I'  I 

V 


Lyrics  of  Lowly  Life. 

And,  watching,  ever  smiled  to  see  tlie  lusty  bud 
Drink  freely  in  the  summer  sun  to  tinct  its 
blood. 

My  rose  began  to  open,  and  its  hue 
Was  sweet  to  me  as  to  it  sun  and  dew ; 
I  watched  it  taking  on  its  ruddy  flame 
Until  the  day  of  perfect  blooming  came, 
Then  hasted  I  with  smiles  to  find  it  blushing 

red  — 
Too  late  !    Some  thoughtless  child  had  plucked 

my  rose  and  fled  ! 


Fulfilment. 


I  u     .' 


\ikt 


}  i  i 


K 


V'; 


I  GREW  a  rose  once  more  to  please  mine  eyes. 
All  things   to   aid    it  —  dew,   sun,    wind,   fair 

skies  — 
Were  kindly ;  and  to  shield  it  from  despoil, 
I  fenced  it  safely  in  with  grateful  toil. 
No  other  hand   than   mine   shall    pluck   this 

flower,  said  I, 
And  I  was  jealous  of  the  bee  that  hovered  nigh. 

24 


isty  bud 
Linct  its 


\ 


Lyrics  of  Lowly  Life. 

It  grew  for  days ;  I  stood  hour  after  hour 
To  watch  the  slow  unfolding  of  the  flower, 
And  then  I  did  not  leave  its  side  at  all, 
Lest  some  mischance  my  flower  should  befall. 
At  last,  oh  joy  !  the  central  petals  burst  apart. 
It  blossomed  —  but,  alas !   a  worm  was  at  its 
heart  I 


blushing 
plucked 


eyes, 
nd,   fair 

poil, 

lick   this 

ed  nigh. 


M' 


SONG. 

'Y  heart  to  thy  heart, 
My  hand  to  thine ; 
My  lips  to  thy  lips, 
Kisses  are  wine 
Brewed  for  the  lover  in  sunshine  and  shade ; 
Let  me  drink  deep,  then,  my  African  maid. 

Lily  to  lily, 

Rose  unto  rose ; 
My  love  to  thy  love 
Tenderly  grows. 
Rend  not  the  oak  and  the  ivy  in  twain. 
Nor  the  swart  maid  from  her  swirthier  swain. 

25 


•f 


r 


Lyrics  of  Lowly  Life. 


AN   ANTE-BELLUM  SERMON, 

WE  is  gathahed  hyeah,  my  brothahs, 
In  dis  hovvlin'  wildaness, 
Fu'  to  speak  some  words  of  comfo't 

To  each  othah  in  distress. 
An'  we  chooses  fu'  ouah  subjic' 

Dis  —  we  '11  'splain  it  by  an'  by; 
"An'  de  Lawd  said,  *  Moses,  Moses,' 
An'  de  man  said,  *  Hyeah  am  L' " 

Now  ole  Pher'oh,  down  in  Egypt, 

Was  de  wuss  man  evah  bo'n, 
An'  he  had  de  Hebrew  chillun 

Down  dah  wukin'  in  his  co'n ; 
'T  well  de  Lawd  got  tiahed  o'  his  foolin*, 

An'  sez  he  :  "I  '11  let  him  know  — 
Look  hyeah,  Moses,  go  tell  Pher'oh 

Fu'  to  let  dem  chillun  go." 

"  An'  ef  he  refuse  to  do  it, 
I  will  make  him  rue  de  houah, 

26 


Lyrics  of  Lowly  Life. 

Fu'  I  '11  empty  down  on  Egypt 
All  lie  vials  of  my  powah." 

Yes,  he  did  —  an'  Pher'oh's  ahmy 
Was  n't  wuth  a  ha'f  a  dime  ; 

Fu*  de  Lawd  will  hc'p  his  chillun, 
You  kin  trust  him  evah  time. 

An'  yo*  enemies  may  'sail  you 

In  de  back  an'  in  de  front ; 
But  de  Lawd  is  all  aroun'  you, 

Fu'  to  ba'  de  battle's  brunt. 
Dey  kin  fo'ge  yo'  chains  an'  shackles 

F'om  de  mountains  to  de  sea ; 
But  de  Lawd  will  sen'  some  Moses 

Fu'  to  set  his  chillun  free. 

An'  de  Ian'  shall  hyeah  his  thundah, 

Lak  a  bias'  f  om  Gab'el's  ho'n, 
Fu'  de  Lawd  of  hosts  is  mighty 

When  he  girds  his  ahmor  on. 
But  fu'  feah  some  one  mistakes  me, 

I  will  pause  right  hyeah  to  say, 
Dat  I  'm  still  a-preachin'  ancient, 

I  ain't  talkin'  'bout  to-day. 
27 


'      r  . 


i 
1 


1       11VI 


I-    » 


Lyrics  of  Lowly  Life. 

But  I  tell  you,  fellah  christuns, 

Things  '11  happen  mighty  strange ; 
Now,  de  Lawd  done  dis  fu'  Isrul, 

An'  his  ways  don't  nevah  change. 
An'  de  love  he  showed  to  Isrul 

Was  n't  all  on  Isrul  spent ; 
Now  don't  run  an'  tell  yo'  mastahs 

Dat  I 's  preachin'  discontent. 

'Cause  I  is  n't ;  I  'se  a-judgin' 

Bible  people  by  deir  ac's ; 
I  'se  a-givin'  you  de  Scriptuah, 

I  'se  a-handin'  you  de  fac's. 
Cose  ole  Pher'oh  b'lieved  in  slav'ry, 

But  de  Lawd  he  let  him  see, 
Dat  de  people  he  put  bref  in,  — 

Evah  mothah's  son  was  free. 

An'  dahs  othahs  thinks  lak  Pher'oh, 
But  dey  calls  de  Scriptuah  liar, 

Fu'  de  Bible  says  "  a  servant 
Is  a-worthy  of  his  hire." 

An'  you  cain't  git  roun'  nor  thoo  dat^ 
An'  you  cain't  git  ovah  it, 
28 


i 


^,— aa» 


Lyrics  of  Lowly  Life. 


Fu*  whatevah  place  you  git  in, 
Dis  hyeah  Bible  too  '11  fit. 

So  you  see  de  Lawd's  intention, 

Evah  sence  de  worl'  began, 
Was  dat  His  almighty  freedom 

Should  belong  to  evah  man, 
But  I  think  it  would  be  bettah, 

Ef  I  'd  pause  agin  to  say, 
Dat  I  'm  talkin'  'bout  ouah  freedom 

In  a  Bibleistic  way. 

But  de  Moses  is  a-comin'. 

An'  he  's  comin',  suah  and  fas' 
We  kin  hyeah  his  feet  a-trompin'. 

We  kin  hyeah  his  trumpit  blc,i'. 
But  I  want  to  wa'n  you  people, 

Don't  you  git  too  brigity ; 
An'  don't  you  git  to  braggin' 

'Bout  dese  things,  you  wait  an'  see. 

But  when  Moses  wif  his  powah 
Comes  an'  sets  us  chillun  free, 
29 


il 


l\ 


i^;- 


« 


■f 


Lyrics  of  Lowly  Life. 

We  will  praise  de  gracious  Mastah 

Dat  has  gin  us  liberty ; 
An'  we  '11  shout  ouah  halleluyahs, 

On  dat  mighty  reck'nin*  day, 
When  we  'se  reco'nised  ez  citiz'  — 

Huh  uh  !     Chillun,  let  us  pray  ! 


ODE  TO  ETHIOPIA. 

O  MOTHER  Race  !  to  thee  I  bring 
This  pledge  of  faith  unwavering, 
This  tribute  to  thy  glory. 
I  know  the  pangs  which  thou  didst  feel. 
When  Slavery  crushed  thee  with  its  heel, 
With  thy  dear  blood  all  gory. 


Sad  days  were  those  —  ah,  sad  indeed  ! 
But  through  the  land  the  fruitful  seed 

Of  better  times  was  growing. 
The  plant  of  freedom  upward  sprung, 
And  spread  its  leaves  so  fresh  and  young  — 

Its  blossoms  now  are  blowing. 

30 


Lyrics  of  Lowly  Life. 


ah 


On  every  hand  in  this  fair  land, 
Proud  Ethiope's  swarthy  children  stand 

Beside  their  fairer  neighbor ; 
The  forests  flee  before  their  stroke, 
Their  hammers  ring,  their  forges  smoke, 

They  stir  in  honest  labour. 


bring 
rering, 

t  feel, 
its  heel, 


leed! 
eed 

mg, 
young  — 


They  tread  the  fields  where  honour  calls ; 
Their  voices  sound  through  senate  halls 

In  majesty  and  power. 
To  right  they  cling ;  the  hymns  they  sing 
Up  to  the  skies  in  beauty  ring, 

And  bolder  grow  each  hour. 

Be  proud,  my  Race,  in  mind  and  soul ; 
Thy  name  is  writ  on  Glory's  scroll 

In  characters  of  fire. 
High  'mid  the  clouds  of  Fame's  bright  sky 
Thy  banner's  blazoned  folds  now  fly, 

And  truth  shall  lift  them  higher. 

Thou  hast  the  right  to  noble  pride. 
Whose  spotless  robes  were  purified 

31 


1,1 


I' 


f( 


m 


u 


I 


n    ; 


Lyrics  of  Lowly  Life. 

By  blood's  severe  baptism. 
Upon  thy  brow  the  cross  was  laid, 
And  labour's  painful  sweat-beads  made 

A  consecrating  chrism. 


,1 


ii  : 


}  ( 


No  other  race,  or  white  or  black. 
When  bound  as  thou  wert,  to  the  rack, 

So  seldom  stooped  to  grieving ; 
No  other  race,  when  free  again, 
Forgot  the  past  and  proved  them  men 

So  noble  in  forgiving. 


i  I      ' 


li 


Go  on  and  up  !     Our  souls  and  eyes 
Shall  follow  thy  continuous  rise ; 

Our  ears  shall  list  thy  story 
From  bards  who  from  thy  root  shall  spring. 
And  proudly  tune  their  lyres  to  sing 

Of  Ethiopia's  glory. 


32 


iv. 


Lyrics  of  Lowly  Life. 


THE   CORN-STALK  FIDDLE. 


I 


WHEN  the  corn 's  all  cut  and  the  bright 
stalks  shine 
Like  the  burnished  spears  of  a  field  of  gold ; 
When  the  field-mice  rich  on  the  nubbins  dine, 
And  the  frost  comes  white   and  the  wind 
blows  cold ; 
Then  it 's  heigho  !  fellows  and  hi-diddle-diddle. 
For  the  time  is  ripe  for  the  corn-stalk  fiddle. 

And  you  take  a  stalk  that  is  straight  and  long, 
With  an  expert  eye  to  its  worthy  points, 

And  you  think  of  the  bubbling  strains  of  song 
That  are  bound  between  its  pithy  joints  — 

Then  you  cut  out  strings,  with  a  bridge  in  the 
middle, 

With  a  corn-stalk  bow  for  a  corn-stalk  fiddle. 

Then  the  strains  that  grow  as  you  draw  the  bow 
O'er  the  yielding   strings  with   a   practised 
hand ! 
3  33 


\l' 


if 


I 


II 


i" 


J        I 


I      i 


M 


lil      ' 


sii 


(  :  » 


li! 


!«.' 


( 1 1 


Lyrics  of  Lowly  Life. 

And  the  music's  flow  never  loud  but  low 

Is  the  concert  note  of  a  fairy  band. 
Oh,  your  dainty  songs  are  a  misty  riddle 
To  the  simple  sweets  of  the  corn-stalk  fiddle. 

When  the  eve  comes  on,  and  our  work  is  done, 

And  the  sun  drops  down  with  a  tender  glance, 

With  their  hearts  all  prime  for  the  harmless  fun, 

Come  the   neighbor  girls  for  the  evening's 

dance. 

And  they  wait  for  the  well-known  twist  and 

twiddle  — 
More  time   than   tune  —  from   the  corn-stalk 
fiddle. 


Then  brother  Jabez  takes  the  bow. 

While  Ned  stands  off  with  Susan  Bland, 

Then  Henry  stops  by  Milly  Snow, 
And  John  takes  Nellie  Jones's  hand, 

While  I  pair  off  with  Mandy  Biddle, 

And  scrape,  scrape,  scrape  goes  the  corn-stalk 
fiddle. 

34 


( I 
( 


Lyrics  of  Lowly  Life. 


die 

:  fiddle. 

rk  is  done, 
:ler  glance, 
rmless  fun, 
;  evening's 

twist  and 
corn-stalk 


**  Salute  your  partners,"  comes  the  call, 
"  All  join  hands  and  circle  round," 

"  Grand  train  back,"  and  "  Balance  all," 
Footsteps  lightly  spurn  the  ground. 

"  Take  your  lady  and  balance  down  the  middle  " 

To  the  merry  strains  of  the  corn-stalk  fiddle. 

So  the  night  goes  on  and  the  dance  is  o'er. 
And  the  merry  girls  are  homeward  gone. 

But  I  see  it  all  in  my  sleep  once  more, 
And  I  dream  till  the  very  break  of  dawn 

Of  an  impish  dance  on  a  red-hot  griddle 

To  the   screech  and   scrape   of  a  corn-stalk 
fiddle. 


Bland, 

nd, 

e  corn-stalk 


THE  MASTER-PLAYER. 

AN  old,  worn  harp  that  had  been  played 
Till  all  its  strings  were  loose  and  frayed, 
Joy,  Hate,  and  Fear,  each  one  essayed. 
To  play.     But  each  in  turn  had  found 
No  sweet  responsiveness  of  sound. 

35 


I? 


Lyrics  of  Lowly  Life. 


Then  Love  the  Master-Player  came 
With  heaving  breast  and  eyes  aflame ; 
The  Harp  he  took  all  undismayed, 
Smote  on  its  strings,  still  strange  to  song, 
And  brought  forth  music  sweet  and  strong. 


THE  MYSTERY. 

I  WAS  not ;  now  I  am  —  a  few  days  hence 
I  shall  not  be ;  I  fain  would  look  before 
And  after,  but  can  neither  do ;  some  Power 
Or  lack  of  power  says  "  no  "  to  all  I  would. 
I  stand  upon  a  wide  and  sunless  plain, 
Nor  chart  nor  steel  to  guide  my  steps  aright. 
Whene'er,  o'ercoming  fear,  I  dare  to  move, 
I  grope  without  direction  and  by  chance. 
Some  feign  to  hear  a  voice  and  feel  a  hand 
That  drrws  them  ever  upward  thro'  the  gloom. 
But  I  —  I  hear  no  voice  and  touch  no  h^nd, 
Tho'  oft  thro'  silence  infinite  I  list, 

36 


*  V 


»  song, 
I  strong. 


lys  hence 
ok  before 

Power 

would, 
in, 
:>s  aright. 

0  move, 
lance. 

1  a  hand 
the  gloom, 
no  h.>nd, 


Lyrics  of  Lowly  Life. 

And  strain  my  hearing  to  supernal  sounds ; 
Tho'  oft  thro'  fateful  darkness  do  I  reach, 
And  stretch  my  hand  to  find  that  other  hand. 
I  question  of  th'  eternal  bending  skies 
That  seem  to  neighbor  with  the  novice  earth ; 
But  they  roll  on,  and  daily  shut  their  eyes 
On  me,  as  I  one  day  shall  do  on  them, 
And  tell  me  not  the  secret  that  I  ask. 


NOT  THEY  WHO  SOAR. 

NOT  they  who  soar,  but  they  who  plod 
Their  rugged  way,  unhelped,  to  God 
Are  heroes ;  they  who  higher  fare. 
And,  flying,  fan  the  upper  air, 
Miss  all  the  toil  that  hugs  the  sod. 
'Tis  they  whose  backs  have  felt  the  rod, 
Whose  feet  have  pressed  the  path  unshod, 
May  smile  upon  defeated  care. 
Not  they  who  soar. 
37 


r 


I  'I 


ti 


.J 


ti 


Lyrics  of  Lowly  Life. 

High  up  there  are  no  thorns  to  prod, 
Nor  boulders  lurking  'neath  the  clod 
To  turn  the  keenness  of  the  share, 
For  flight  is  ever  free  and  rare  ; 
But  heroes  they  the  soil  who  Ve  trod, 
Not  they  who  soar  ! 


J 


WHITTIER. 

NOT  o'er  thy  dust  let  there  be  spent 
The  gush  of  maudlin  sentiment ; 
Such  drift  as  that  is  not  for  thee, 
Whose  life  and  deeds  and  songs  agree, 
Sublime  in  their  simplicity. 

Nor  shall  the  sorrowing  tear  be  shed. 
O  singer  sweet,  thou  art  not  dead  ! 
In  spite  of  time's  malignant  chill. 
With  living  fire  thy  songs  shall  thrill, 
And  men  shall  say,  "  He  liveth  still !  " 

Great  poets  never  die,  for  Earth 
Doth  count  their  lives  of  too  great  worth 

38 


Lyrics  of  Lowly  Life. 

To  lose  them  from  her  treasured  store ; 
So  shalt  thou  live  for  evermore  — 
Though  far  thy  form  from  mortal  ken  — 
Deep  in  the  hearts  and  minds  of  men. 


TWO  SONGS. 


A  BEE  that  was  searching  for  sweets  one 
day 
Through  the  gate  of  a  rose  garden  happened  to 

stray. 
In  the  heart  of  a  rose  he  hid  away, 
And  forgot  in  his  bliss  the  light  of  day, 
As  sipping  his  honey  he  buzzed  in  song ; 
Though  day  was  waning,  he  lingered  long, 
For  the  rose  was  sweet,  so  sweet. 

A  robin  sits  pluming  his  ruddy  breast. 

And  a  madrigal  sings  to  his  love  in  her  nest : 

"Oh,  the  skies  they  are   blue,  the  fields   are 

green. 
And  the  birds  in  your  nest  will  soon  be  seen  !  " 

39 


'^1 


u 


Iv 


*\\  \ 


Lyrics  of  Lowly  Life. 

She  hangs  on  his  words  with  a  thrill  of  love, 
And  chirps  to  him  as  he  sits  above, 
For  the  song  is  sweet,  so  sweet. 

A  maiden  was  out  on  a  summer's  day 

With  the  winds  and  the  waves  and  the  flowers 

at  play ; 
And  she  met  with  a  youth  of  gentle  air. 
With  the  light  of  the  sunshine  on  his  hair, 
'"/bgether  they  wandered  the  flowers  among ; 
They  loved,  and  loving  they  lingered  long, 
For  to  love  is  sweet,  so  sweet. 


h 


M 


Bird  of  my  lady's  bower. 

Sing  her  a  song ; 
Tell  her  that  every  hour, 

All  the  day  long. 
Thoughts  of  her  come  to  me, 

Filling  my  brain 
With  the  warm  ecstasy 

Of  love's  refrain. 
40 


Lyrics  of  Lowly  Life. 

Little  bird  !  happy  bird  ! 

Being  so  near, 
Where  e'en  her  slightest  word 

Thou  mayest  hear, 
Seeing  her  glancing  eyes, 

Sheen  of  her  hair, 
Thou  art  in  paradise,  — 

Would  I  were  there. 


H 


I  am  so  far  away. 

Thou  art  so  near ; 
Plead  with  her,  birdling  gay. 

Plead  with  my  dear. 
Rich  be  thy  recompense. 

Fine  be  thy  fee. 
If  through  thine  eloquence 

She  hearken  me. 


t  I 


41 


f- 


Lyrics  of  Lowly  Life. 


I     ! 


it 


A  BANJO  SONG. 

OH,  dere  's  lots  o'  keer  an'  trouble 
In  dis  world  to  swaller  down ; 
An'  ol'  Sorrer  's  purty  lively 

In  her  way  o'  gittin'  roun'. 
Yet  dere  's  times  when  I  furgit  'em,  — 
Aches  an'  pains  an'  troubles  all,  — 
An'  it 's  when  I  tek  at  ebenin* 
My  ol'  banjo  fom  de  wall. 


411 


'Bout  de  time  dat  night  is  fallin* 

An'  my  daily  wu'k  is  done, 
An'  above  de  shady  hilltops 

I  kin  see  de  settin'  sun ; 
When  de  quiet,  restful  shadders 

Is  beginnin'  jes'  to  fall,  — 
Den  I  take  de  little  banjo 

F'om  its  place  upon  de  wall. 
42 


Lyrics  of  Lowly  Life. 


Den  my  fam'ly  gadders  roun'  me 

In  de  fadin'  o'  de  light, 
Ez  I  strike  de  strings  to  try  'em 

Ef  dey  all  is  tuned  er-right. 
An'  it  seems  we  're  so  nigh  heaben 

We  kin  hyeah  de  angels  sing 
When  de  music  o'  dat  banjo 

Sets  my  cabin  all  er-ring. 

An'  my  wife  an'  all  de  othahs,  — 

Male  an'  female,  small  an'  big,  — 
Even  up  to  gray- haired  granny. 

Seem  jes'  boun'  to  do  a  jig ; 
*Twell  I  change  de  style  o'  music, 

Change  de  movement  an'  de  time, 
An'  de  ringin'  little  banjo 

Plays  an  ol'  hea't-feelin'  hime. 

An'  somehow  my  th'oat  gits  choky, 
An'  a  lump  keeps  tryin'  to  rise 

Lak  it  wan'ed  to  ketch  de  water 
Dat  was  flowin'  to  my  eyes ; 

43 


l^ 


1     / 

'  4 


t 


\ 


I 


I     if 


f       I   '  ¥ 


t 


'    I 


Lyrics  of  Lowly  Life. 

An'  I  feel  dat  I  could  sorter 
Knock  de  socks  clean  off  o'  sin 

Ez  I  hyeah  my  po'  ol*  granny 
Wif  huh  tremblin'  voice  jine  in. 

Den  we  all  th'ow  in  our  voices 

Fu'  to  he'p  de  chune  out  too, 
Lak  a  big  camp-meetin'  choiry 

Tryin'  to  sing  a  mou'nah  th'oo. 
An'  our  th'oahts  let  out  de  music, 

Sweet  an'  solemn,  loud  an'  free, 
'Twell  de  raftahs  o'  my  cabin 

Echo  wif  de  melody. 

Oh,  de  music  o'  de  banjo. 

Quick  an'  deb'lish,  solemn,  slow, 
Is  de  greates'  joy  an'  solace 

Dat  a  weary  slave  kin  know  ! 
So  jes*  let  me  hyeah  it  ringin', 

Dough  de  chune  be  po'  an'  rough. 
It 's  a  pleasure  ;  an'  de  pleasures 

O'  dis  life  is  few  enough. 
44 


Lyrics  of  Lowly  Life. 

Now,  de  blessed  little  angels 

Up  in  heaben,  we  are  told, 
Don't  do  nothin'  all  dere  lifetime 

'Ceptin'  play  on  ha'ps  o'  gold. 
Now  I  think  heaben  'd  be  mo'  homelike 

Ef  we  'd  hyeah  some  music  fall 
F'om  a  real  ol'-fashioned  banjo. 

Like  dat  one  upon  de  wall. 


f1 
I 

1  f 

\  4 


LONGING. 

IF   you   could   sit  with   me   beside  the   sea 
to-day, 
And  whisper  with  me  sweetest  dreamings  o'er 

and  o'er ; 
I  think  I  should  not  find  the  clouds  so  dim  and 

gray, 
And  not  so  loud  the  waves  complaining  at  the 

shore. 


iT 


I 


\i 


If  you  could  sit  with  me  upon  the  shore  to-day, 

And  hold  my  hand  in  yours  as  in  the  days  of  old, 

45 


II 


t 


't'      I 


•    1     ' 


Lyrics  of  Lowly  Life. 

I  think  I  should  not  mind  the  chill  baptismal 

spray, 
Nor  find  my  hand  and  heart  and  all  the  world 

so  cold. 


;i        <: 


If  you  could  walk  with  me  upon  the  strand  to-day, 
And  tell  me  that  my  longing  love  had  won  your 

own, 
I  think  all  my  sad  thoughts  would  then  be  put 

away. 
And  I  could  give  back  laughter  for  the  Ocean's 

moan ! 


m 


I 


THE  PATH. 

THERE   are  no    beaten  paths  to   Glory*s 
height. 
There  are  no  rules  to  compass  greatness  known ; 
Each  for  himself  must  cleave  a  path  alone, 
And  press  his  own  way  forward  in  the  fight. 
Smooth  is  the  way  to  ease  and  calm  delight, 
And  soft  the  road  Sloth  chooseth  for  her  own ; 
But  he  who  craves  the  flower  of  life  full-blown, 

46 


l:i 


Lyrics  of  Lowly  Life. 

Must  struggle  up  in  all  his  armor  dight ! 
What  though  the  burden  bear  him  sorely  down 
And  crush  to  dust  the  mountain  of  his  pride, 
Oh,  then,  with  strong  heart  let  him  still  abide ; 
For  rugged  is  the  roadway  to  renown, 
Nor  may  he  hope  to  gain  the  envied  crown 
Till  he  hath  thrust  the  looming  rocks  aside. 


\i 


J     1 


f 


THE  LAWYERS*  WAYS. 

I'VE  been  list'nin'  to  them  lawyers 
In  the  court  house  up  the  street, 
An'  I  've  come  to  the  conclusion 

That  I  'm  most  completely  beat. 
Fust  one  feller  riz  to  argy, 
An'  he  boldly  waded  in 
As  he  dressed  the  tremblin'  pris'ner 
In  a  coat  o'  deep-dyed  sin. 

Why,  he  painted  him  all  over 
In  a  hue  o'  blackest  crime. 

An'  he  smeared  his  reputation 
With  the  thickest  kind  o'  grime, 
47 


I 


'    -l 


I    / 


I].. 


/I 

i^  hi 


/ 


i 


Lyrics  of  Lowly  Life. 

Tell  I  found  myself  a-wond'rin', 
In  a  misty  way  and  dim, 

How  the  Lord  had  come  to  fashion 
Sich  an  awful  man  as  him. 


1 1 


( 


(, 


) 


The>i  the  other  lawyer  started, 

An',  with  brimmin',  tearful  eyes, 
Said  his  client  was  a  martyr 

That  was  brought  to  sacrifice. 
An'  he  give  to  that  same  pris'ner 

Every  blessed  human  grace, 
Tell  I  saw  the  light  o'  virtue 

Fairly  shinin'  from  his  face. 

Then  I  own  'at  I  was  puzzled 

How  sich  things  could  rightly  be ; 
An'  this  aggervatin'  question 

Seems  to  keep  a-puzzlin'  me. 
So,  will  some  one  please  inform  me, 

An*  this  mystery  unroll  — 
How  an  angel  an'  a  devil 

Can  persess  the  self-same  soul? 


48 


( I  I 


I 


'.I' 


fW^ 


Lyrics  of  Lowly  Life. 


ODE  FOR  MEMORIAL  DAY. 


DONE   are  the  toils  and  the  wearisome 
marches, 
Done  is  the  summons  of  bugle  and  drum. 
Softly  and  sweetly  the  sky  overarches, 

Shelt'ring  a  land  where  Rebellion  is  dumb. 
Dark  were  the  days  of  the  country's  derange- 
ment. 
Sad  were  the  hours  when  the  conflict  was  on, 
But  through  the  gloom  of  fraternal  estrangement 
God  sent  his  light,  and  we  welcome  the  dawn. 
O'er  the  expanse  of  our  mighty  dominions, 

Sweeping  away  to  the  uttermost  parts, 
Peace,  the  wide-flying,  on  untiring  pinions, 
Bringeth  her  message  of  joy  to  our  hearts. 

Ah,  but  this  joy  which  our  minds  cannot  measure. 
What  did  it  cost  for  our  fathers  to  gain  ! 

Bought  at  the  price  of  the  heart's  dearest  treasure, 
Born  out  of  travail  and  sorrow  and  pain ; 
4  49 


f 


'  /  'I 


Lyrics  of  Lowly  Life. 

Bom  in  the  battle  where  fleet  Death  was  flying, 

Slaying  with  sabre-stroke  bloody  and  fell ; 
Born  where  the  heroes  and  martyrs  were  dying, 

Torn  by  the  fury  of  bullet  and  shell. 
Ah,  but  the  day  is  past :  silent  the  ratde, 

Aji  1  tic  wOJ  a\sion  that  foLowed  the  fight. 
Pf  ice  to  the  heroes  who  died  in  the  battle, 

Martyrs  to  a  ih  and  the  crowning  of  Right ! 

Out  of  the  blood  of  a  conflict  fraternal, 

Out  of  the  dust  and  the  dimness  of  death, 
Burst  into  blossoms  of  glory  eternal 

Flowers  that  sweeten  the  world  with  their 
breath. 
Flowers  of  charity,  peace,  and  devotion 

Bloom  in  the  hearts  that  are  empty  of  strife  ; 
Love  that  is  boundless  and  broad  as  the  ocean 

Leaps  into  beauty  and  fulness  of  life. 
So,  with  the  singing  of  paeans  and  chorals, 

And  with  the  flag  flashing  high  in  the  sun. 
Place  on  the  graves  of  our  heroes  the  laurels 

Which  their  unfaltering  valor  has  won  ! 


SO 


Lyrics  of  Lowly  Life. 


D' 


PREMOhlTION. 

^EAR  heart,  good-night ! 

Nay,  list  awhile  that  sweet  voice 
singing 
When  the  world  is  all  so  bright, 
And  the  sound  of  song  sets  the  heart  a- ringing, 
Oh,  love,  it  is  not  right  — 

Not  then  to  say,  "  Good-night." 

Dear  heart,  good-night ! 
The  late  winds  in  the  'ake  weeds  shiver, 

And  the  spray  flies  cold  and  white. 
And  the  voice  that  sings  gives  a  telltale  quiver — 
"  Ah,  yes,  the  world  is  bright, 

But,  dearest  heart,  good-night !  " 

Dear  heart,  good-night ! 
And  do  not  longer  seek  to  hold  me  ! 

For  my  soul  is  in  affright 
As  the  fearful  glooms  in  their  pall  enfold  me. 
See  him  who  sang  how  white 

And  still ;  so,  dear,  good- night. 
SI 


i 


'iH 


f 


f 


IP 

.r-' 


t 
} 


'^ 


Lyrics  of  Lowly  Life. 


Dear  heart,  good-night  I 
Thy  hand  I  '11  press  no  more  forever, 
And  mine  eyes  shall  lose  the  light ; 
For  the  great  white  wraith  by  the  winding  river 
Shall  check  my  steps  with  might. 

So,  dear,  good-night,  good-night ! 


11 


,1 


i 

\ 

! 

i  • 


RETROSPECTION. 

WHEN  you  and  I  were  young,  the  days 
Were  filled  with  scent  of  pink  and  rose, 
And  full  of  joy  from  dawn  till  close. 
From  morning's  mist  till  evening's  haze. 
And  when  the  robin  sung  his  song 
The  verdant  woodland  ways  along, 
We  whistled  louder  than  he  sung. 
And  school  was  joy,  and  work  was  sport 
For  which  the  hours  were  all  too  short, 
When  you  and  I  were  young,  my  boy, 
When  you  and  I  were  young. 

52 


^ 


Lyrics  of  Lowly  Life. 

When  you  and  I  were  young,  the  woods 
Brimmed  bravely  o'er  with  every  joy 
To  charm  the  happy-hearted  boy. 

The  quail  turned  ouc  he r  timid  broods ; 
The  prickly  copse,  a  hostess  fine, 
Held  high  black  cups  of  harmless  wine ; 
And  low  the  laden  grape-vine  swung 

With  beads  of  night-kissed  amethyst 

Where  buzzing  lovers  held  their  tryst, 
When  you  and  I  were  young,  my  boy, 
When  you  and  I  were  young. 


When  you  and  I  were  young,  the  cool 
And  fresh  wind  fanned  our  fevered  brows 
When  tumbling  o'er  the  scented  mows, 
Or  stripping  by  the  dimpling  pool. 

Sedge-fringed  about  its  shimmering  face, 
Save  where  we  'd  worn  an  ent'ring  place. 
How  with  our  shouts  the  calm  banks  rung  ! 
How  flashed  the  spray  as  we  plunged  in,  — 
Pure  gems  that  never  caused  a  sin  ! 
When  you  and  I  were  young,  my  boy, 
When  you  and  I  were  young. 

S3 


U,  \ 


*    I 


Lyrics  of  Lowly  Life. 

When  you  and  I  were  young,  we  heard 
All  sounds  of  Nature  with  delight,  — 
The  whirr  of  wing  in  sudden  flight, 

The  chirping  of  the  baby-bird. 

The  columbine's  red  bells  were  rung ; 
The  locust's  vested  chorus  sung ; 
While  every  wind  his  zithern  strung 

To  high  and  holy-sounding  keys, 

And  played  sonatas  in  the  trees  — 
When  you  and  I  were  young,  my  boy. 
When  you  and  I  were  young. 

When  you  and  I  were  young,  we  knew 
To  shout  and  laugh,  to  work  and  play, 
And  night  was  partner  to  the  day 

In  all  our  joys.     So  swift  time  flew 
On  silent  wings  that,    re  we  wist. 
The  fleeting  years  had  fled  unmissed ; 
And  from  our  hearts  this  cry  was  wrung  • 

To  fill  with  fond  regret  a.jd  tears 

The  days  of  our  remaining  years  — 
"  When  you  and  I  were  young,  my  boy, 
When  you  and  I  were  young." 

54 


Lyrics  of  Lowly  Life. 


UNEXPRESSED. 

DEEP  in  my  heart  that  aches  with  the  re- 
pression, 
And  strives  with  plenitude  of  bitter  pain, 
There   Hves  a   thought  that   clamors   for  ex- 
pression, 
And  spends  its  undelivered  force  in  vain. 


What  boots    it    that   some    other    may  have 
thought  it? 

The  right  of  thoughts'  expression  is  divine ; 
The  price  of  pain  I  pay  for  it  has  bought  it, 

I  care  not  who  lays  claim  to  it  —  't  is  mine  ! 

And  yet  not  mine  until  it  be  delivered ; 

The  manner  of  its  birth  shall  prove  the  test. 
Alas,  alas,  my  rock  of  pride  is  shivered  — 

I  beat  my  brow  —  the  thought  still  unex- 
pressed. 


55 


I  '4  I 


n 
i 


r  : 


I 


'  'i 


, 


Lyrics  of  Lowly  Life. 


SONG  OF  SUMMER. 

DIS  is  gospel  weathah  sho'  — 
Hills  is  sawt  o*  hazy. 
Meddahs  level  ez  a  flo' 

Callin'  to  de  lazy. 
Sky  all  white  wif  streaks  o'  blue, 

Sunshine  softly  gleamin', 
D'ain't  no  wuk  hit  *s  right  to  do, 
Nothin'  's  right  but  dreamin', 

Dreamin*  by  de  rivah  side 

Wif  de  watahs  glist'nin', 
Feelin'  good  an'  satisfied 

Ez  you  lay  a-list'nin' 
To  the  little  nakid  boys 

Splashin'  in  de  watah, 
HoUerin'  fu'  to  spress  deir  joys 

Jes'  lak  youngsters  ought  to. 
S6 


I  K 


><a 


Lyrics  of  Lowly  Life. 

Squir'l  a-tippin'  on  his  toes, 

So  's  to  hide  an'  view  you ; 
Whole  flocks  o'  camp-meetin'  crows 

Shoutin'  hallelujah. 
Peckahwood  erpon  de  tree 

Tappin'  lak  a  hammah ; 
Jaybird  chattin'  wif  a  bee, 

Tryin'  to  teach  him  grammah. 

Breeze  is  blowin'  wif  perfume, 

Jes'  enough  to  tease  you ; 
Hollyhocks  is  all  in  bloom, 

Smellin'  fi»  .o  please  you. 
Go  'way,  folks,  an'  let  me  'lone, 

Times  is  gettin'  dearah  — 
Summah  's  settin'  on  de  th'one. 

An'  I    1  a-layin'  neah  huh  1 


^  1 


) 


If 


t 


ei 


Lyrics  of  Lowly  Life. 


S'      1 


/ 1 


'iM 


]^1 


SPRING  SONG. 

A  BLUE-BELL  springs  upon  the  ledge, 
A  lark  sits  singing  in  the  hedge ; 
Sweet  perfumes  scent  the  balmy  air, 
And  life  is  brimming  everywhere. 
What  lark  and  breeze  and  bluebird  sing. 
Is  Spring,  Spring,  Spring  ! 

No  more  the  air  is  sharp  and  cold ; 
The  planter  wends  across  the  wold, 
And,  glad,  beneath  the  shining  sky 
We  wander  forth,  my  love  and  I. 
And  ever  in  our  hearts  doth  ring 
This  song  of  Spring,  Spring  ! 

For  life  is  life  and  love  is  love, 
'Twixt  maid  and  man  or  dove  and  dove. 
Life  may  be  short,  life  may  be  long, 
But  love  will  come,  and  to  its  song 
Shall  this  refrain  for  ever  cling 
Of  Spring,  Spring,  Spring  ! 
S8 


Lyrics  of  Lowly  Life. 


TO  LOUISE. 


OH,  the  poets  may  sing  of  th.  r  Lady  Irenes, 
And  may  rave   in  their  rhymes  about 
wonderful  queens ; 
But  I  throw  my  poetical  wings  to  the  breeze, 
And  soar  in  a  song  to  my  Lady  Louise. 
A  sweet  little  maid,  who  is  dearer,  I  ween. 
Than  any  fair  duchess,  or  even  a  queen. 
When   speaking  of  her   I   can't   plod   in  my 

prose, 
For  she  's  the  wee  lassie  who  gave  me  a  rose. 

Since  poets,  from  seeing  a  lady's  lip  curled, 
Have  written  fair  verse  that  has  sweetened  the 

world ; 
Why,  then,  should  not  I  give  the  space  of  an 

hour 
To  making  a  song  in  return  for  a  flower? 

59 


^^'1 


i 


A 


Lyrics  of  Lowly  Life. 


I  have  found  in  my  life  —  it  has  not  been  so 

long— 
There  are  too  few  of  flowers  — too  little  of  song. 
So  out  of  that  blossom,  this  lay  of  mine  grows, 
For  the  dear  little  lady  who  gave  me  the  rose. 

I  thank  God  for  innocence,  dearer  than  Art, 
That  lights  on  a  by-way  which  leads  to  the 

heart. 
And  led  by  an  impulse  no  less  than  divine, 
Walks  into  the  temple  and  sits  at  the  shrine. 
I  would  rather  pluck  daisies  that  grow  in  the 

wild. 
Or  take  one  simple  rose  from  the  hand  of  a 

child, 
Than  to  breathe  the  rich  fragrance  of  flowers 

that  bide 
In  the  gardens  of  luxury,  passion,  and  pride. 


1 
- 


■4 


'i 


Mt 


I  know  not,  my  wee  one,  how  came  you  to  know 
Which  way  to  my  heart  was  the  right  way  to  go ; 
Unless  in  your  purity,  soul-clean  and  clear, 
God  whispers  his  messages  into  your  ear. 

60 


I 


I 


Lyrics  of  Lowly  Life. 

You  have  now  had  my  song,  let  me  end  with  a 

prayer 
That  your  life  may  be  always  sweet,  happy,  and 

fair; 
That  your  joys  may  be  many,  and  absent  your 

woes, 
O  dear  little  lady  who  gave  me  the  rose  ! 


THE  RIVALS. 


*  'Tn  WAS  three  an'  thirty  year  ago, 

X     When  I  was  ruther  young,  you  know, 
I  had  my  last  an'  only  fight 
About  a  gal  one  summer  night. 
'T  was  me  an'  Zekel  Johnson ;  Zekt 
'N'  me  'd  be'n  spattin'  'bout  a  week, 
Each  of  us  tryin'  his  best  to  show 
That  he  was  Liza  Jones's  beau. 
We  could  n't  neither  prove  the  thing, 
Fur  she  was  fur  too  sharp  to  f  ing 
One  over  fur  the  other  one 
An'  by  so  doin'  stop  the  fun 

6i 


)k\ 


f 

.if! 


\r 


m 


?» 


Lyrics  of  Lowly  Life. 


That  we  chaps  did  n't  have  the  sense 

To  see  she  got  at  our  expense, 

But  that 's  the  way  a  feller  does, 

Fur  boys  is  fools  an'  alius  was. 

An'  when  they 's  females  in  the  game 

I  reckon  men 's  about  the  same. 

Well,  Zeke  an'  me  went  on  that  way 

An'  fussed  an'  quarrelled  day  by  day; 

While  Liza,  mindin'  not  the  fuss, 

Jest  kep'  a-goin'  with  both  of  us, 

Tell  we  pore  chaps,  that 's  Zeke  an'  me, 

Was  jest  plum  mad  with  jealousy. 

Well,  fur  a  time  we  kep'  our  places. 

An'  only  showed  by  frownin'  faces 

An'  looks  'at  well  our  meanin'  boded 

How  full  o'  fight  we  both  was  loaded. 

At  last  it  come,  the  thing  broke  out. 

An'  this  is  how  it  come  about. 

One  night  ('twas  fair,  you  '11  all  agree) 

I  got  Eliza's  company. 

An'  leavin'  Zekel  in  the  lurch, 

Went  trottin'  off  with  her  to  church. 

An'  jest  as  we  had  took  our  seat 


M 


Lyrics  of  Lowly  Life. 


(Eliza  lookin'  fair  an*  sweet), 
Why,  I  jest  could  n't  help  but  grin 
When  Zekel  come  a-bouncin'  in 
As  furious  as  the  law  allows. 
He  'd  jest  be'n  up  to  Liza's  house. 
To  find  her  gone,  then  come  to  church 
To  have  this  end  put  to  his  search. 
I  guess  I  laffed  that  meetin'  through, 
An'  not  a  mortal  word  I  knew 
Of  what  the  preacher  preached  er  read 
Er  what  the  choir  sung  er  said. 
Fur  every  time  I  'd  turn  my  head 
I  could  n't  skeercely  help  but  see 
'At  Zekel  had  his  eye  on  me. 
An'  he  'ud  sort  o'  turn  an'  twist 
An'  grind  his  teeth  an'  shake  his  fist. 
I  laughed,  fur  la  !  the  hull  church  seen  us> 
An'  knowed  that  suthin'  was  between  us. 
Well,  meetin'  out,  we  started  hum, 
I  sorter  feelin'  what  would  come. 
We  'd  jest  got  out,  when  up  stepped  Zeke, 
An'  said,  "  Scuse  me,  I  'd  like  to  speak 
To  you  a  minute."     "Cert,"  said  I  — 

63 


w 


f 

-    ) 


Lyrics  of  Lowly  Life. 


V  i 


A-nudgin'  Liza  on  the  sly 
An'  laughin'  in  my  sleeve  with  glee, 
I  asked  her,  please,  to  pardon  me. 
We  walked  away  a  step  er  two, 
Jest  to  git  out  o'  Liza's  view, 
An'  then  Zeke  said,  "  I  want  to  know 
Ef  you  think  you  're  Eliza's  beau, 
An'  'at  I  'm  goin'  to  let  her  go 
Hum  with  sich  a  chap  as  you?  " 
An'  I  said  bold,  "  You  bet  I  do." 
Then  Zekel,  sneerin',  said  'at  he 
Did  n't  want  to  hender  me. 
But  then  he  'lowed  the  gal  was  his 
An'  'at  he  guessed  he  knowed  his  biz, 
An'  was  n't  feared  o*  all  my  kin 
With  all  my  friends  an'  chums  throwed  in. 
Some  other  things  he  mentioned  there 
That  no  born  man  could  no  ways  bear 
Er  think  o'  ca'mly  try  in'  to  stan' 
Ef  Zeke  had  be'n  the  bigges'  man 
In  town,  an'  not  the  leanest  runt 
'At  time  an'  labor  ever  stunt. 
An'  so  I  let  my  fist  go  "  bim," 

64 


r 


Lyrics  of  Lowly  Life. 


I  thought  I  'd  mos'  nigh  finished  him. 
But  Zekel  did  n't  take  it  so. 
He  jest  ducked  down  an'  dodged  my  blow 
An'  then  come  back  at  me  so  hard, 
I  guess  I  must  'a'  hurt  the  yard, 
Er  spilet  the  grass  plot  where  1  fell, 
An'  sakes  alive  it  hurt  me  ;  well, 
It  would  n't  be'n  so  bad,  you  see. 
But  he  jest  kep'  a-hittin'  me. 
An'  I  hit  back  an'  kicked  an'  pawed, 
But  't  seemed  't  was  mostly  air  I  clawed, 
While  Zekel  used  his  science  well 
A-makin'  every  motion  tell. 
He  punched  an'  hit,  why,  goodness  lands. 
Seemed  like  he  had  a  dozen  hands. 
Well,  aftcrwhile  they  stopped  the  fuss, 
An'  some  one  kindly  parted  us. 
All  beat  an'  cuffed  an'  clawed  an'  scratched. 
An'  needin'  both  our  faces  patched, 
Each  started  hum  a  different  way ; 
An'  what  o'  Liza,  do  you  say. 
Why,  Liza  —  little  humbug  —  dern  her, 
Why,  she  'd  gone  home  with  Hiram  Turner. 
5  6s 


J 


i 


Lyrics  of  Lowly  Life. 


THE  LOVER  AND  THE  MOON. 

A  LOVER  whom  duty  called  over  the  wave, 
With   himself   communed :    "  Will   my 
love  be  true 
If  left  to  herself?    Had  I  better  not  sue 
Some  friend  to  watch  over  her,  good  and  grave  ? 
But  my  friend  might  fail   in  my  need,"  he 

said, 
"And  I  return  to  find  love  dead. 
Since  friendships  fade  like  the  flow'rs  of  June, 
I  will  leave  her  in  charge  of  the  stable  moon." 

Then  he  said  to  the  moon  :  "  O  dear  old  moon, 
Who  for  years  and  years  from  thy  throne  above 
Hast  nurtured  and  guarded  young  lovers  and 
love. 

My  heart  has  but  come  to  its  waiting  June, 
And  the  promise  time  of  the  budding  vine  ; 
Oh,  guard  thee  well  this  love  of  mine." 
And  he  harked  him  then  while  all  was  still, 
And  the  pale  moon  answered  and  said, "  I  will." 

66 


ii^ 


DON. 

the  wave, 
'Will   my 

)t  sue 
ind  grave  ? 
need,"  he 


rs  of  June, 
ale  moon." 

Id  moon, 
rone  above 
lovers  and 

June, 
mg  vine ; 
me." 
was  still, 
d,«Iwill." 


Lyrics  of  Lowly  Life. 

And  he  sailed  in  his  ship  o'er  many  seas. 

And    he    wandered    wide   o'er   strange   far 

strands  : 
In  isles  of  the  south  and  in  Orient  lands, 

Where  pestilence  lurks   in  the   breath  of  the 
breeze. 
But  his  star  was  high,  so  he  braved  the  main, 
And  sailed  him  blithely  home  again ; 
And  with  joy  he  bended  his  footsteps  soon 
To  learn  of  his  love  from  the  matron  moon. 

She  sat  as  of  yore,  in  her  olden  place. 
Serene  as  death,  in  her  silver  chair. 
A  white  rose  gleamed  in  her  whiter  hair. 

And  the  tint  of  a  blush  was  on  her  face. 
At  sight  of  the  youth  she  sadly  bowed 
And  hid  her  face  'neath  a  gracious  cloud. 
She  faltered  faint  on  the  night's  dim  marge, 
But  "  How,"  spoke  the   youth,  "  hr.'/e   you 
kept  your  charge? " 

The  moon  was  sad  at  a  trust  ill-kept ; 

The  blush  went  out  in  her  blanching  cheek, 

(^1 


il 


f 


;l 


1 

i 

1 


.1 


IMAGE  EVALUATION 
TEST  TARGET  (MT-3) 


1.0 


l^|2£    |2.5 
2.2 


I.I 


US 

lit 


WUb 


1.25 


1.4 


I 


1.6 


«»- 


Photographic 

Sdences 

Corporation 


^ 


•s^ 


^ 

^ 


V 


\\ 


& 


33  WEST  MAIN  STREET 

WEBSTER,  N.Y.  14580 

(716)872-4503 


4^ 


1^ 


j?y 


I 


r 


I'l 


"M" 


;■( 


1 ' 


I     ^■: 


;  i  » 


1 


Lyrics  of  Lowly  Life. 

And  her  voice  was  timid  and  low  and  weak. 
As  she  made  her  plea  and  sighed  and  wept. 
"  Oh,  another  prayed  and  another  plead, 
And  I  could  n't  resist,"  she  answering  said ; 
"  But  love  still  grows  in  the  hearts  of  men : 
Go  forth,  dear  youth,  and  love  again." 

But  he  turned  him  away  from  her  proffered  grace. 
"Thou  art  false,  O  moon,  as  the  hearts  of 

men, 
I  will  not,  will  not  love  again." 
And  he  turned  sheer  'round  with  a  soul-sick 
face 
To  the  sea,  and  cried  :  "  Sea,  curse  the  moon, 
Who  makes  her  vows  and  forgets  so  soon." 
And  the  awful  sea  with  anger  stirred. 
And  his  breast  heaved  hard  as  he  lay  and 
heard. 

And  ever  the  moon  wept  down  in  rain, 
And  ever  her  sighs  rose  high  in  wind ; 
But  the  earth  and  sea  were  deaf  and  blind. 

And  she  wept  and  sighed  her  griefs  in  vaii? , 

68 


(i  :\ 


Lyrics  of  Lowly  Life. 

And  ever  at  night,  when  the  storm  is  fierce, 
The  cries  of  a  wraith  through  the  thunders 

pierce ; 
And  the  waves  strain  their  awful  hands  on 

high 
To  tear  the  false  moon  from  the  sky. 


CONSCIENCE  AND  REMORSE. 

"  /^^  OOD-BYE,"  I  said  to  my  conscience— 
V-JT     «  Good-bye  for  aye  and  aye," 

And  I  put  her  hands  off  harshly. 
And  turned  my  face  away ; 

And  conscience  smitten  sorely 
Returned  not  from  that  day. 


But  a  time  came  when  my  spirit 

Grew  weary  of  its  pace ; 
And  I  cried  :  "  Come  back,  my  conscience ; 

I  long  to  see  thy  face." 
But  conscience  cried :  "  I  cannot ; 

Remorse  sits  in  my  place." 

69 


1! 


tijl 


1 


la 


'.- 


w 


l! 


\  : 


r 


I? 
I 

I: 


f 

I 

t 

f 

I 


Lyrics  of  Lowly  Life. 


I O  N  E. 

I. 

A  H,  yes,  *t  is  sweet  still  to  remember, 

*^     Though  't  were  less  painful  to  forget ; 

For  while  my  heart  glows  like  an  ember, 
Mine  eyes  with  sorrow's  drops  are  wet, 
And,  oh,  my  heart  is  aching  yet. 

It  is  a  law  of  mortal  pain 

That  old  wounds,  long  accounted  well, 
Beneath  the  memory's  potent  spel)^ 

Will  wake  to  life  and  bleed  again. 

So  't  is  with  me  ;  it  might  be  better 
If  I  should  turn  no  look  behind,  — 

If  I  could  curb  my  heart,  and  fetter 
From  reminiscent  gaze  my  mind. 
Or  let  my  soul  go  blind  —  go  blind  ! 

But  would  I  do  it  if  I  could  ? 

Nay  !  ease  at  such  a  price  were  spumed ; 
For,  since  my  love  was  once  returned, 

All  that  I  suffer  seemeth  good. 

70 


e. 


Lyrics  of  Lowly  Life. 


ber, 
forget ; 
nber, 
e  wet, 


I  well, 
ell. 


nd! 

spumed ; 
lined, 


I  know,  I  know  it  is  the  fashion, 

When  love  has  left  some  heart  distressed. 
To  weight  the  air  with  wordful  passion ; 

But  I  am  glad  that  in  my  breast 

I  ever  held  so  dear  a  guest. 
Love  does  not  come  at  every  nod, 

Or  every  voice  that  calleth  "  hasten ;  " 

He  seeketh  out  some  heart  to  chasten. 
And  whips  it,  wailing,  up  to  God  ! 

Love  is  no  random  road  wayfarer 

Who  where  he  may  must  sip  his  glass. 

Love  is  the  King,  the  Purple- Wearer, 
Whose  guard  recks  not  of  tree  or  grass 
To  blaze  the  way  that  he  may  pass. 

What  if  my  heart  be  in  the  blast 
That  heralds  his  triumphant  way ; 
Shall  I  repine,  shall  I  not  say : 

"  Rejoice,  my  heart,  the  King  has  passed  ! " 

In  life,  each  heart  holds  some  sad  story  — 
The  saddest  ones  are  never  told. 

I,  too,  have  dreamed  of  fame  and  glory. 
And  viewed  the  future  bright  with  gold ; 

71 


It.  *. 


m 

!   f'  i   1 


[•MA 


■•1 


- 1* — 


I.  * 


Lyrics  of  Lowly  Life. 

But  that  is  as  a  tale  long  told. 
Mine  eyes  have  lost  their  youthful  flash, 

My  cunning  hand  has  lost  its  art ; 

I  am  not  old,  but  in  my  heart 
The  ember  Hes  beneath  the  ash. 


1 


i 


I  loved  !     Why  not  ?    My  heart  was  youthful, 
My  mind  was  filled  with  healthy  thought. 

He  doubts  not  whose  own  self  is  truthful. 
Doubt  by  dishonesty  is  taught ; 
So  loved  I  boldly,  fearing  naught. 

I  did  not  walk  this  lowly  earth ; 
Mine  was  a  newer,  higher  sphere. 
Where  youth  was  long  and  life  was  dear, 

And  all  save  love  was  little  worth. 


•  ?: 


*  f 


nr 


I 


Her  likeness  !    Would  that  I  might  limn  it. 
As  Love  did,  with  enduring  art ; 

Nor  dust  of  days  nor  death  may  dim  it. 
Where  it  lies  graven  on  my  heart, 
Of  this  sad  fabric  of  my  life  a  part. 

I  would  that  I  might  paint  her  now 
As  I  beheld  her  in  that  day, 

72 


: 


i 


Lyrics  of  Lowly  Life. 

Ere  her  first  bloom  had  passed  away, 
And  left  the  lines  upon  her  brow. 


A  face  serene  that,  beaming  brightly, 
Disarmed  the  hot  sun's  glances  bold. 

A  foot  that  kissed  the  ground  so  lightly, 
He  frowned  in  wrath  and  deemed  her  cold, 
But  loved  her  still  though  he  was  old. 

A  form  where  every  maiden  grace 

Bloomed  to  perfection's  richest  flower,  — 
The  statued  pose  of  conscious  power. 

Like  lithe-limbed  Dian's  of  the  chase. 


Ill  ''I 


!•" 


Beneath  a  brow  too  fair  for  frowning. 
Like  moon-lit  deeps  that  glass  the  skies 

Till  all  the  hosts  above  seem  drowning, 
Looked  forth  her  steadfast  nazel  eyes. 
With  gaze  serene  and  purely  wise. 

And  over  all,  her  tresses  rare. 

Which,  when,  with  his  desire  grown  weak. 
The  Night  bent  down  to  kiss  her  cheek. 

Entrapped  and  held  him  captive  there, 

73 


M 


\^ 


i  M 


I  ii 


r 


'K\ 


f 


h    I 


Lyrics  of  Lowly  Life. 

This  was  lone ;  a  spirit  finer 

Ne'er  burned  to  ash  its  house  of  clay ; 
A  soul  instinct  with  fire  diviner 

Ne'er  fled  athwart  the  face  of  day, 

And  tempted  Time  with  earthly  stay. 
Her  loveliness  was  not  alone 

Of  face  and  form  and  tresses'  hue ; 

For  aye  a  pure,  high  soul  shone  through 
Her  every  act :  this  was  lone. 


n. 

*T  WAS  in  the  radiant  summer  weather. 
When  God  looked,  smiling,  from  the  sky ; 

And  we  went  wand'ring  much  together 
Dy  wcod  and  lane,  lone  and  I, 
Attracted  by  the  subtle  tie 

Of  common  thoughts  and  common  tastes, 
Of  eyes  whose  vision  saw  the  same, 
And  freely  granted  beauty's  claim 

Where  others  found  but  worthless  wastes. 

We  paused  to  hear  the  far  bells  ringing 
Across  the  distance,  sweet  and  clear. 

74 


Lyrics  of  Lowly  Life. 

We  listened  to  the  wild  bird's  singing 
The  song  he  meant  for  his  mate's  ear, 
*  nd  deemed  our  chance  to  do  so  dear. 

■*^  e  loved  to  watch  the  warrior  Sun, 
With  flaming  shield  and  flaunting  crest. 
Go  striding  down  the  gory  West, 

When  Day's  long  fight  was  fought  and  won. 


And  life  became  a  different  story ; 

Where'er  I  looked,  I  saw  new  light. 
Earth's  self  assumed  a  greater  glory, 

Mine  eyes  were  cleared  to  fuller  sight. 

Then  first  I  saw  the  need  and  might 
Of  that  fair  band,  the  singing  throng, 

Who,  gifted  with  the  skill  divine, 

Take  up  the  threads  of  life,  spun  fine. 
And  weave  them  into  soulful  song. 

They  sung  for  me,  whose  passion  pressing 
My  soul,  found  vent  in  song  nor  line. 

They  bore  the  burden  of  expressing 
All  that  I  felt,  with  art's  design. 
And  every  word  of  theirs  was  mine. 

75 


1«  <*'! 


hi 


1/     ( 


I 


in 


Lyrics  of  Lowly  Life. 

I  read  them  to  lone,  ofttimes, 

By  hill  and  shore,  beneath  fair  skies, 
And  she  looked  deeply  in  mine  eyes, 

And  knew  my  love  spoke  through  their  rhymes. 

Her  life  was  like  the  stream  that  floweth, 
And  mine  was  like  the  waiting  sea ; 

Her  love  was  like  the  flower  that  bloweth, 
And  mine  was  like  the  searching  bee  — 
I  found  her  sweetness  all  for  me. 

God  plied  him  in  the  mint  of  time. 
And  coined  for  us  a  golden  day, 
And  rolled  it  ringing  down  life's  way 

With  love's  sweet  music  in  its  chime. 

And  God  unclasped  the  Book  of  Ages, 

And  laid  it  open  to  our  sight ; 
Upon  the  dimness  of  its  pages, 

So  long  consigned  to  rayless  night, 

He  shed  the  glory  of  his  light. 
We  read  them  well,  we  read  them  long. 

And  ever  thrilling  did  we  see 

That  love  ruled  all  humanity,  — 
The  master  passion,  pure  and  strong. 

76 


H' 


Lyrics  of  Lowly  Life. 


III. 

To-day  my  skies  are  bare  and  ashen, 
And  bend  on  me  without  a  beam. 

Since  love  is  held  the  master-passion, 
Its  loss  must  be  the  pain  supreme  — 
And  grinning  Fate  has  wrecked  my  dream. 

But  pardon,  dear  departed  Guest, 
I  will  not  rant,  I  will  not  rail ; 
For  good  the  grain  must  feel  the  flail ; 

There  are  whom  love  has  never  blessed. 

I  had  and  have  a  younger  brother. 
One  whom  I  loved  and  love  to-day 

As  never  fond  and  doting  mother 
Adored  the  babe  who  found  its  way 
From  heavenly  scenes  into  her  day. 

Oh,  he  was  full  of  youth's  new  wine,  — 
A  man  on  life's  ascending  slope. 
Flushed  with  ambition,  full  of  hope  ; 

And  every  wish  of  his  was  mine. 

A  kingly  youth ;  the  way  before  him 
Was  thronged  with  victories  to  be  won ; 

77 


1/  \ 


^u 


(: 


Lyrics  of  Lowly  Life. 

So  joyous,  too,  the  heavens  o'er  him 
Were  bright  with  an  unchanging  sun,  — 
His  days  with  rhyme  were  overrun. 

Toil  had  not  taught  him  Nature's  prose. 
Tears  had  not  dimmed  his  brilHant  eyes. 
And  sorrow  had  not  made  him  wise ; 

His  hte  was  in  the  budding  rose. 

I  know  not  how  I  came  to  waken. 

Some  instinct  pricked  my  soul  to  sight ; 

My  heart  by  some  vague  thrill  was  shaken,  — 
A  thrill  so  true  and  yet  so  slight, 
I  hardly  deemed  I  read  aright. 

As  when  a  sleeper,  ign'rant  why. 
Not  knowing  what  mysterious  hand 
Has  called  him  out  of  slumberland, 

Starts  up  to  find  some  danger  nigh. 

Love  is  a  guest  that  comes,  unbidden, 
But,  having  come,  asserts  his  right ; 

He  will  not  be  repressed  nor  hidden. 
And  so  my  brother's  dawning  plight 
Became  uncovered  to  my  sight. 

7S 


Lyrics  of  Lowly  Life. 


Some  sound- mote  in  his  passing  tone 
Caught  in  the  meshes  of  my  ear ; 
Some  little  glance,  a  shade  too  dear, 

Betrayed  the  love  he  bore  lone. 

What  could  I  do?    He  was  my  brother. 
And  young,  and  full  of  hope  and  trust ; 

I  could  not,  dared  not  try  to  smother 
His  flame,  and  turn  his  heart  to  dust. 
I  knew  how  oft  life  gives  a  crust 

To  starving  men  who  cry  for  bread ; 
But  he  was  young,  so  few  his  days. 
He  had  not  learned  the  great  world's  ways. 

Nor  Disappointment's  volumes  read. 

However  fair  and  rich  the  booty, 
I  could  not  make  his  loss  my  gain. 

For  love  is  dear,  but  dearer,  duty. 

And  here  my  way  was  clear  and  plain. 
I  saw  how  I  could  save  him  pain. 

And  so,  with  all  my  day  grown  dim, 

That  this  loved  brother's  sun  might  shine, 
I  joined  his  suit,  gave  over  mine. 

And  sought  lone,  to  plead  for  him. 

79 


r"* 


t 


i\ 


^^ 


■ 


K 


I    i.' 


K     '     I 


1   I 


li 


C 


•; 


Lyrics  of  Lowly  Life. 

I  found  her  in  an  eastern  bower, 
Where  all  day  long  the  am'rous  sun 

Lay  by  to  woo  a  timid  flower. 

This  day  his  course  was  well-nigh  run, 
But  still  with  lingering  art  he  spun 

Gold  fancies  on  the  shadowed  wall. 
The  vines  waved  soft  and  green  above. 
And  there  where  one  might  tell  his  love, 

I  told  my  griefs  —  I  told  her  all ! 

I  told  her  all,  and  as  she  hearkened, 
A  tear-drop  fell  upon  her  dress. 

With  grief  her  flushing  brow  was  darkened ; 
One  sob  that  she  could  not  repress 
Betrayed  the  depths  of  her  distress. 

Upon  her  grief  my  sorrow  fed. 

And  I  was  bowed  with  unlived  years. 
My  heart  swelled  with  a  sea  of  tears. 

The  tears  my  manhood  could  not  shed. 

The  world  is  Rome,  and  Fate  is  Nero, 

Disporting  in  the  hour  of  doom. 

God  made  us  men ;  times  make  the  hero — 

But  in  that  awful  space  of  gloom 

So 


;  V 


;i 


Lyrics  of  Lowly  Life. 

I  gave  no  thought  but  sorrow's  room. 
All  —  all  was  dim  within  that  bower, 

What  time  the  sun  divorced  the  day ; 

And  all  the  shadows,  glooming  gray, 
Proclaimed  the  sadness  of  the  hour. 


She  could  not  speak  —  no  word  was  needed ; 

Her  look,  half  strength  and  half  despair, 
Told  me  I  had  not  vainly  pleaded, 

That  she  would  not  ignore  my  prayer. 

And  so  she  turned  and  left  me  there, 
And  as  she  went,  so  passed  my  bliss ; 

She  loved  me,  I  could  not  mistake  — 

But  for  her  own  and  my  love's  sake. 
Her  womanhood  could  rise  to  this  ! 


lit  <*\ 


My  wounded  heart  fled  swift  to  cover, 
And  life  at  times  seemed  very  drear. 

My  brother  proved  an  ardent  lover  — 
What  had  so  young  a  man  to  fear? 
He  wed  lone  within  the  year. 
6  8i 


u 


It 


r 

V 


I  'I 

I  >  < 

J    f       '  . 

! 


M     li 


■    i 


i  h. 


I    < 

:  1 


i.( 


I 


1- 


w  I,' 


Lyrics  of  Lowly  Life. 

No  shadow  clouds  her  tranquil  brow, 

Men  speak  her  husband's  name  with  pride, 
While  she  sits  honored  at  his  side  — 

She  is  —  she  must  be  happy  now  1 

I  doubt  the  course  I  took  no  longer, 

Since  those  I  love  seem  satisfied. 
The  bond  between  them  will  grow  st::onger 

As  they  go  forward  side  by  side ; 

Then  will  my  pains  be  justified. 
Their  joy  is  mine,  and  that  is  best  — 

I  am  not  totally  bereft ; 

For  I  have  still  the  mem'ry  left  — 
Love  stopped  with  me  —  a  Royal  Guest ! 


RELIGION. 

I  AM  no  priest  of  crooks  nor  creeds. 
For  human  wants  and  human  needs 
Are  more  to  me  than  prophets*  deeds ; 
And  human  tears  and  human  cares 
Affect  me  more  than  human  prayers. 

82 


'    5;;' 


fe. 

w, 

with  pride, 

le  — 


sr, 
i. 
stronger 


Lyrics  of  Lowly  Life. 

Go,  cease  your  wail,  lugubrious  saint ! 
You  fret  high  Heaven  with  your  plaint. 
Is  this  the  "  Christian's  joy  "  you  paint? 
Is  this  the  Christian's  boasted  bliss? 
Avails  your  faith  no  more  than  this  ? 

Take  up  your  arms,  come  out  with  me. 
Let  Heav'n  alone ;  humanity 
Needs  more  and  Heaven  less  from  thee. 
With  pity  for  mankind  look  'round ; 
Help  them  to  rise  —  and  Heaven  is  found. 


Guest  I 


reeds, 
needs 
eds; 

;s 
;rs. 


DEACON  JONES'  GRIEVANCE. 

I'VE  been  watchin'  of  'em,  parson. 
An'  I  'm  sorry  fur  to  say 
'At  my  mind  is  not  contented 

With  the  loose  an'  keerless  way 
'At  the  young  folks  treat  the  music ; 

'T  ain't  the  proper  sort  o'  choir. 
Then  I  don't  believe  in  Christuns 
A-singin'  hymns  for  hire. 
83 


1 


J 


i 


\M ' 


\\ 


Lyrics  of  Lowly  Life. 


i : 


!     ( 


r; 


i        ' 


But  I  never  would  'a'  murmured 

An'  the  matter  might  'a'  gone 
Ef  it  was  n't  fur  the  antics 

'At  I  ve  seen  'em  kerry  on  ; 
So  I  thought  it  was  my  dooty 

Fur  to  come  to  you  an'  ask 
Ef  you  would  n't  sort  o'  gently 

Take  them  singin'  folks  to  task. 

Fust,  the  music  they  've  be'n  singin* 

Will  disgrace  us  mighty  soon ; 
It 's  a  cross  between  a  opry 

An'  a  ol'  cotillion  tune. 
With  its  dashes  an'  its  quavers 

An'  its  hifalutin  style  — 
Why,  it  sets  my  head  to  swimmin' 

When  I  'm  comin'  down  the  aisle. 

Now  it  might  be  almost  decent 

Ef  it  was  n't  fur  the  way 
*At  they  git  up  there  an'  sing  it, 

Hey  dum  diddle,  loud  and  gay. 
84 


Life. 


Lyrics  of  Lowly  Life. 


lured 
gone 

on ; 

Dty 
ask 
ntly 
to  task. 

e'n  singin' 
soon; 

■y 

wers 

wimmin* 
n  the  aisle. 

lecent 

sing  it, 
and  gay. 


Why,  it  shames  the  name  o'  sacred 

In  its  brazen  worldliness, 
An'  they  've  even  got  "  01'  Hundred  " 

In  a  bold,  new-fangled  dress. 

You  '11  excuse  me,  Mr.  Parson, 

Ef  I  seem  a  little  sore ; 
But  I  've  sung  the  songs  of  Isr'el 

For  threescore  years  an'  more, 
An'  it  sort  o'  hurts  my  feelin's 

Fur  to  see  'em  put  away 
Fur  these  harum-scarum  ditties 

'At  is  capturin'  the  day. 

There  's  anuther  little  happ'nin' 

'At  I  '11  mention  while  I  'm  here, 
Jes*  to  show  'at  my  objections 

All  is  offered  sound  and  clear. 
It  was  one  day  they  was  singin' 

An'  was  doin'  well  enough  — 
Singin'  good  as  people  could  sing 

Sich  an  awful  mess  o'  stuff — 

85 


Lyrics  of  Lowly  Life, 

When  the  choir  give  a  holler, 

An'  the  organ  give  a  groan, 
An'  they  left  one  weak-voiced  feller 

A-singin'  there  alone  I 
But  he  stuck  right  to  the  music, 

Tho'  't  was  tryin'  as  could  be ; 
An'  when  I  tried  to  help  him. 

Why,  the  hull  church  scowled  at  me- 


You  say  that 's  so-low  singin'. 

Well,  I  pray  the  Lord  that  I 
Growed  up  when  folks  was  willin* 

To  sing  their  hymns  so  high. 
Why,  we  never  had  sich  doin's 

In  the  good  ol*  Bethel  days, 
When  the  folks  was  all  contented 

With  the  simple  songs  of  praise. 


I 


Now  I  may  have  spoke  too  open, 
But  't  was  too  hard  to  keep  still, 

An'  I  hope  you  '11  tell  the  singers 
'At  I  bear  *em  no  ill-will. 
86 


Life. 


Lyrics  of  Lowly  Life. 


5r, 
in, 

ed  feller 


usic, 
d  be; 
m, 
ivled  at  mCw 


n, 
it  I 

willin* 

ligh. 

)in's 

ays, 

tented 

f  praise. 

)  open, 
eep  still, 
singers 
1. 


'At  they  all  may  git  to  glory 
Is  my  wish  an'  my  desire, 

But  they  '11  need  some  extry  trainin' 
'Fore  they  jine  the  heavenly  choir. 


ALICE. 

KNOW  you,  winds  that  blow  your  course 
Down  the  verdant  valleys. 
That  somewhere  you  must,  perforce, 

Kiss  the  brow  of  Alice  ? 
When  her  gentle  face  you  find, 
Kiss  it  softly,  naughty  wind. 

Roses  waving  fair  and  sweet 

Thro'  the  garden  alleys, 
Grow  into  a  glory  meet 

For  the  eye  of  Alice ; 
Let  the  wind  your  offering  bear 
Of  sweet  perfume,  faint  and  rare. 

87 


I"  >'[ 


Ill   • 


i''. 


If 


*•« 


!f 


Lyric?  of  Lowly  Life. 

Lily  holding  crystal  dew 
In  your  pure  white  chalice, 

Nature  kind  hath  fashioned  you 
Like  the  soul  of  Alice ; 

It  of  purest  white  is  wrought, 

Filled  with  gems  of  crystal  thought. 


'*} 


n. 


AFTER  THE  QUARREL. 

SO  we,  who  Ve  supped  the  self- same  cup, 
To-night  must  lay  our  friendship  by; 
Your  wrath  has  burned  your  judgment  up. 

Hot  breath  has  blown  the  ashes  high. 
You  say  that  you  are  wronged  —  ah,  well^ 

I  count  that  friendship  poor,  at  best 
A  bauble,  a  mere  bagatelle. 

That  cannot  stand  so  slight  a  test. 


I  fain  would  still  have  been  your  friend. 

And  talked  and  laughed  and  loved  with  you ; 

But  since  it  must,  why,  let  it  end ; 
The  false  but  dies,  't  is  not  the  true. 

88 


1     '!:■ 


ife. 


'OVL 


Lyrics  of  Lowly  Life. 

So  we  are  favored,  you  and  I, 
Who  only  want  the  living  truth. 

It  was  not  good  to  nurse  the  lie ; 
'Tis  well  it  died  in  harmless  youth. 


/I 


•  I 


tiought. 


tREL. 

If- same  cup, 
ndship  by ; 
gment  up, 
les  high. 
-  ah,  well^ 
at  best 

test. 

friend, 
loved  with  you ; 

hd; 
tie  true. 


I  go  from  you  to-night  to  sleep. 

Why,  what 's  the  odds?  why  iiould  I  grieve? 
I  have  no  fund  of  tears  to  weep 

For  happenings  that  undeceive. 
The  days  shall  come,  the  days  shall  go 

Just  as  they  came  and  went  before. 
The  sun  shall  shine,  the  streams  shall  flow 

Though  you  and  I  are  friends  no  more. 

And  in  the  volume  of  my  years, 

Where  all  my  thoughts  and  acts  shall  be, 
The  page  whereon  your  name  appears 

Shall  be  forever  sealed  to  me. 
I  Not  that  I  hate  you  over-much, 

'T  is  less  of  hate  than  love  defied ; 
[Howe'er,  our  hands  no  more  shall  touch, 

We  '11  go  our  ways,  the  world  is  wide. 


89 


'  I 


\  i 


i  '•  '  t 


Lyrics  of  Lowly  Life. 


BEYOND  THE  YEARS. 


,  I 


I. 

BEYOND  the  years  the  answer  lies, 
Beyond  where  brood  the  grieving  skies 
And  Night  drops  tears. 
Where  Faith  rod-chastened  smiles  to  rise 

And  doff  its  fears, 
And  carping  Sorrow  pines  and  dies— 
Beyond  the  years. 


"       .: 


n. 
Beyond  the  years  the  prayer  for  rest 
Shall  beat  no  more  within  the  breast ; 

The  darkness  clears, 
And  Mom  perched  on  the  mountain's  crest 

Her  form  uprears  — 
The  day  that  is  to  come  is  best, 
Beyond  the  years. 
90 


ii    ii 


e. 


RS. 

er  lies, 
grieving  skies 

les  to  rise 

lies — 


"or  rest 
breast ; 

Duntain's  crest 
est, 


Lyrics  of  Lowly  Life. 

III. 
Beyond  the  years  the  soul  shall  find 
That  endless  peace  for  which  it  pined, 

For  light  appears, 
And  to  the  eyes  that  still  were  blind 

With  blood  and  tears, 
Their  sight  shall  come  ail  unconfined 

Beyond  the  years. 


AFTER  A  VISIT. 

IBE'N  down  in  ole  Kentucky 
Fur  a  v/eek  er  two,  an'  say, 
'T  wuz  ez  hard  ez  breakin'  oxen 

Fur  to  tear  myse'f  away. 
Alius  argerin'  'bout  fren'ship 

An*  yer  hospitality  — 
Y'  ain't  no  right  to  talk  about  it 
Tell  you  be'n  down  there  to  see. 

See  jest  how  they  give  you  welcome 
To  the  best  that 's  in  the  land, 

91 


)' 


f) 


r'  '.I 


i 


It  <• 


r-S) 


Lyrics  of  Lowly  Life. 

Feel  the  sort  o'  grip  they  give  you 
When  they  take  you  by  the  hand. 

Hear  'em  say,  "  We  're  glad  to  have  you, 
Better  stay  a  week  er  two ;  " 

An'  the  way  they  treat  you  makes  you 
Feel  that  ev'ry  word  is  true. 

Feed  you  tell  you  hear  the  buttons 

Crackin'  on  yore  Sunday  vest ; 
Haul  you  roun'  to  see  the  wonders 

Tell  you  have  to  cry  for  rest. 
Drink  yer  health  an'  pet  an'  praise  you 

Tell  you  git  to  feel  ez  great 
Ez  the  Sheriff  o'  the  county 

Er  the  Gov'ner  o'  the  State. 

Wife,  she  sez  I  must  be  crazy 

'Cause  I  go  on  so,  an'  Nelse 
He  'lows,  "  Goodness  gracious  !  daddy, 

Cain't  you  talk  about  nuthin'  else  ?  " 
Well,  pleg-gone  it,  I  'm  jes'  tickled, 

Bein'  tickled  ain't  no  sin ; 
I  be'n  down  in  ole  Kentucky, 

An'  I  want  o'  go  ag'in. 
92 


^  it 


-.04 , 


land, 
have  you, 

:es  you 

tons 

it; 
ders 

raise  you 


s!  daddy, 

[i»else?" 

ckled, 


Lyrics  of  Lowly  Life. 


CURTAIN. 

VILLAIN  shows  his  indiscretion, 
Villain's  partner  makes  confession. 
Juvenile,  with  golden  tresses, 
Finds  her  pa  and  dons  long  dresses. 
Scapegrace  comes  home  money-laden, 
Hero  comforts  tearful  maiden, 
Soubrette  marries  loyal  chappie. 
Villain  skips,  and  all  are  happy. 


THE  SPELLIN-BEE. 

I  NEVER  shall  furgit  that  night  when  father 
hitched  up  Dobbin, 
An'  all  us  youngsters  clambered  in  an'  down  the 

road  went  bobbin' 
To  school  where  we  was  kep'  at  work  in  every 

kind  o'  weather. 
But  where  that  night  a  spellin'-bee  was  callin*  us 
together. 

93 


1 
hi 


In  ' 


Hi 


~r^r 


''  ! 


I' 


^ 


i\        '( 


/       \    fl 


S4?    i' 


Lyrics  of  Lowly  Life. 

'T  was  one  o'  Heaven's  banner  nights,  the  stars 

was  all  a  glitter, 
The  moon  was  shinin'  like  the  hand  o'  God  had 

jest  then  lit  her. 
The  ground  was  white  with  spotless  snow,  the 

blast  was  sort  o'  stingin* ; 
But  underneath  our  round-abouts,  you  bet  our 

hearts  was  singin'. 
That  spellin'-bee  had  be'n  the  talk  o'  many  a 

precious  moment. 
The  youngsters  all  was  wild  to  see  jes'  what  the 

precious  show  meant. 
An*  we  whose  years  was  in  their  teens  was  little 

less  desirous 
O'  gittin'  to  the  meetin'  so  's  our  sweethearts 

could  admire  us. 
So  on  we  went  so  anxious  fur  to  satisfy  our 

mission 
That  father  had  to  box  our  ears,  to  smother  our 

ambition. 
But  boxin'  ears  was  too  short  work  to  hinder 


;«» 


our  arrivm. 


94 


s,  the  stars 
)'  God  had 
5  snow,  the 
ou  bet  our 
;  o'  many  a 
5s'  what  the 
ns  was  little 
sweethearts 
satisfy  our 
smother  our 
k  to  hinder 


Lyrics  of  Lowly  Life. 

He  jest  turned  roun'  an'  smacked  us  all,  an'  kep' 

right  on  a-drivin'. 
Well,  soon  the  schoolhouse  hove  in  sight,  the 

winders  beamin'  brightly ; 
The  sound  o*  talkin'  reached  our  ears,  and  voices 

laffin'  lightly. 
It  puffed  us  up  so  full  an'  big  'at  I  '11  jest  bet  a 

dollar. 
There  wa'n't  a  feller  there  but  felt  the  strain 

upon  his  collar. 
So  down  we  jumped  an'  in  we  went  ez  sprightly 

ez  you  make  'em, 
But  somethin'   grabbed  us  by  the   knees  an' 

straight  began  to  shake  'em. 
Fur  once  within  that  lighted  room,  our  feelin's 

took  a  canter, 
An'  scurried  to  the  zero  mark  ez  quick  ez  Tam 

O'Shantei. 
'Cause  there  was  crowds  o'  people  there,  both 

sexes  an'  all  stations ; 
It  looked  like  all  the  town  had  come  an'  brought 

all  their  relations. 


95 


} 


I' 

II  'ti 


ii 


Iff 


f     d 


Lyrics  of  Lowly  Life. 


J 


The  first  I  saw  was  Nettie  Gray,  I  thought  that 

girl  was  dearer 
'N'  gold ;  an'  when  I  got  a  chance,  you  bet  I 

aidged  up  near  her. 
An'  Farmer  Dobbs's  giil  was  there,  the  one  'at 

Jim  was  sweet  on. 
An'  Cyrus  Jones  an'  Mandy  Smith  an'  Faith  an' 

Patience  Deaton. 
Then   Parson  Brown  an'  Lawyer  Jones  were 

present  —  all  attention. 
An'  piles  on  piles  of  other  folks  too  numerous 

to  mention. 
The  master  rose  an*  briefly  said :  "  Good  friends, 

dear  brother  Crawford, 
To  spur  the  pupils'  minds  along,  a  little  prize 

has  offered. 
To  him  who  spells  the  best  to-night  —  or  't  may 

be  *her' — no  tellin'  — 
He  offers  ez  a  jest  reward,  this  precious  work  on 

spelHn'." 
A  little   blue-backed  spellin'-book  with   fancy 

scarlet  trimmin' ; 


96 


bought  that 
,  you  bet  I 
,  the  one  *at 
an'  Faith  an' 

Jones  were 
00  numerous 
Good  friends, 

a  little  prize 
It  — or't  may 
icious  work  on 
Dk  with  fancy 


Lyrics  of  Lowly  Life. 

We  boys  devoured  it  with  our  eyes  —  so  did  the 

girls  an'  women. 
He  held  it  up  where  all  could  see,  then  on  the 

table  set  it, 
An'  ev'ry  speller  in  the  house  felt  mortal  bound 

to  get  it. 
At  his  command  we  fell  in  line,  prepared  to  do 

our  dooty, 
Outspell  the  rest  an'  set  'em  down,  an'  carry 

home  the  booty. 
'T  was  then  the  merry  times  began,  the  blunders, 

an'  the  laffin', 
The  nudges  an'  the  nods  an'  winks  an'  stale 

good-natured  chaffin'. 
Ole  Uncle  Hiram  Dane  was  there,  the  clostest 

man  a-livin'. 
Whose  only  bugbear  seemed  to  be  the  dreadful 

fear  o'  givin*. 
His  beard  was  long,  his  hair  uncut,  his  clothes 

all  bare  an'  dingy ; 
It  was  n't  'cause  the  man  was  pore,  but  jest  so 

mortal  stingy. 


97 


4" 


')(' 


[.' '(  1. 
1 1.-*  ' 


m 
1 


I 


«' 


,1    ». 


■  i 


i\ 


i;e'i 


j_i..L--j!aLa 


■^»= 


'f  /)l, 


f 


1! 


J    ■ 

t 

i 


iJ  ^'/i 


/ 


'T     I, 


i  / 


■  1 


1    I. 


i  ( 


Lyrics  of  Lowly  Life. 

An'  there  he  sot  by  Sally  Riggs  a-smilin*  an' 

a-smirkin', 
An'  all  his  childern  lef  to  home  a  diggin'  an' 

a-workin'. 
A  widower  he  was,  an'  Sal  was  thinkin'  'at  she  'd 

wing  him ; 
I  reckon  he  was  wond'rin'  what  them  rings  o' 

hern  would  bring  him. 
An'  when  the  spellin'-test  commenced,  he  up 

an'  took  his  station, 
A-speUin'  with  the  best  o'  them  to  beat  the  very 

nation. 
An'  when  he  'd  spell  some  youngster  down,  he  'd 

turn  to  look  at  Sally, 
An'  say :  "  The  teachin'  nowadays  can't  be  o* 

no  great  vally." 
But  true  enough  the  adage  says,  "  Pride  walks 

in  slipp'ry  places," 
Fur  soon  a  thing  occurred  that  put  a  smile  on 

all  our  faces. 
The  laffter  jest  kep'  ripplin'  'roun'  an'  teacher 

could  n't  quell  it, 


98 


'7  i 


Lyrics  of  Lowly  Life. 


»      Q«» 


ilin'  an 


Tgin'  an' 


'at  she  'd 
I  rings  o' 
;d,  he  up 
,t  the  very 
lown,  he  'd 
an't  be  o' 
ride  walks 
a  smile  on 
an'  teacher 


Fur  when  he  give  out  "  charity  "  ole  Hiram 

could  n't  spell  it. 
But  laffin'  's  ketchin'  an'  it  throwed  some  others 

off  their  bases, 
An'  folks  'u'd  miss  the  very  word  that  seemed 

to  fit  their  cases. 
Why,  fickle   little   Jessie   Lee   come  near  the 

house  upsettin' 
By  puttin'  in  a  double  "  kay  "  to  spell  the  word 

"  coquettin'." 
An'  when  it  come  to  Cyrus  Jones,  it  tickled  me 

all  over  — 
Him  settin'  up  to  Mandy  Smith  an'  got  sot 

down  on  "  lover." 
But  Lawyer  Jones  of  all  gone  men  did  shorely 

look  the  gonest. 
When  he  found  out  that  he  'd  furgot  to  put  the 

«  h  "  in  "  honest." 
An'  Parson  Brown,  whose  sermons  were  too  long 

fur  toleration. 
Caused  lots  o'  smiles  by  missin*  when  they  give 

out "  condensation." 


99 


V', 


» 


HI   >»| 

11 


I 


i 

li 


\ 


<<     /     I  5  ( 


"ssa 


5'  f 

.  i  fi  .    ^ 


'  1 


Lyrics  of  Lowly  Life. 

So  one  by  one  they  giv'  it  up  —  the  big  words 

kep*  a-landin', 
Till  me  an'  Nettie  Gray  was  left,  the  only  ones 

a-standin'. 
An'  then  my  inward  strife  began —  I  guess  my 

mind  was  petty  — 
I  did  so  want  that  spellin'-book ;  but  then  to 

spell  down  Nettie 
Jest  sort  o'  went  ag*in  my  grain  —  I  somehow 

could  n't  do  it, 
An*  when  I  git  a  notion  fixed,  I  'm  great  on 

stickin'  to  it. 
So  when  they  giv'  the  next  word  out  —  I  had  n*t 

orter  tell  it. 
But  then  't  was  all  fur  Nettie's  sake  —  I  missed 

so 's  she  could  spell  it. 
She  spelt  the  word,  then  looked  at  me  so  lovin*- 

like  an'  mello', 
I  tell  you  't  sent  a  hunderd  pins  a-shootin' 

through  a  fello'. 
O'  course  I  had  to  stand  the  jokes  an'  chaffin' 

of  the  fello's, 


100 


r  words 
Lily  ones 
ruess  my 

then  to 
somehow 

great  on 
- 1  had  n*t 
- 1  missed 

so  lovin*- 

a-shootin* 
an'  chaffin' 


Lyrics  of  Lowly  Life. 

But  when  they  handed  her  the  book  I  vow  I 

was  n't  jealous. 
We  sung  a  hymn,  an'  Parson  Brown  dismissed  us 

like  he  orter, 
Fur,  la  !  he  'd  learned  a  thing  er  two  an'  made 

his  blessin'  shorter. 
'T  was  late  an'  cold  when  we  got  out,  but  Nettie 

liked  cold  weather. 
An'  so  did  I,  so  we  agreed  we  M  jest  walk  home 

together. 
We  both  wuz  silent,  fur  of  words  we  nuther  had 

a  surplus, 
'Till  she  spoke  out  quite  sudden  like,  "You 

missed  that  word  on  purpose." 
Well,  I  declare  it  frightened  me ;  at  first  I  tried 

denyin'. 
But   Nettie,  she   jest  smiled   an'   smiled,   she 

knowed  that  I  was  lyin'. 
Sez  she  :  "  That  book  is  yourn  by  right ;  '*  sez 

I :  "It  never  could  be  — 
I  —  I  —  you  —  ah "  an'  there  I  stuck,  an' 

well  she  understood  me. 


lOI 


''  \ 


.(.'  1 


/* ' 


::'l 


li'i 


^!  i 


,1 «]  -j 


f 


It 
Iff 


uJammmti^iektm  la 


Lyrics  of  Lowly  Life. 

So  we  agreed  that  later  on  when  age  had  giv' 

us  tether, 
We  *d  jine  our  lots  an'  settle  down  to  own  that 

book  together. 


KEEP  A-PLUGGIN'   AWAY. 

I'VE  a  humble  little  motto 
That  is  homely,  though  it  *s  true, 

Keep  a-pluggin'  away. 
It 's  a  thing  when  I  've  an  object 
That  I  always  try  to  do,  — 

Keep  a-pluggin'  away. 
When  you  've  rising  storms  to  quell, 
When  opposing  waters  swell, 
It  will  never  fail  to  tell,  — 

Keep  a-pluggin'  away. 


If  the  hills  are  high  before 
And  the  paths  are  hard  to  climb. 
Keep  a-pluggin*  away. 

102 


Lyrics  of  Lowly  Life. 


tiad  giv' 
Dwn  that 


Y. 


true,  — 


lell, 


b, 


And  remember  that  successes 
Come  to  him  who  bides  his  time,  — 

Keep  a-pkiggin'  away. 
From  the  greatest  to  tlie  least, 
None  are  from  the  rule  released. 
Be  thou  toiler,  poet,  priest, 

Keep  a-pluggin'  away. 

Delve  away  beneath  the  surface. 
There  is  treasure  farther  down,  — 

Keep  a-pluggin'  away. 
Let  the  rain  come  down  in  torrents. 
Let  the  threat'ning  heavens  frown, 

Keep  a-pluggin'  away. 
When  the  clouds  have  rolled  away. 
There  will  come  a  brighter  day 
All  your  labor  to  repay,  — 

Keep  a-pluggin'  away. 

There  '11  be  lots  of  sneers  to  swallow. 
There  '11  be  lots  of  pain  to  bear,  — 
Keep  a-pluggin'  away. 
103 


if  I 


:( 


I 


II    I 


>' 


f'  ( 


Lyrics  of  Lowly  Life. 

If  you  've  got  your  eye  on  heaven, 
Some  bright  day  you  '11  wake  up  there, 

Keep  a-pluggin'  away. 
Perseverance  still  is  king ; 
Time  its  sure  reward  will  bring ; 
Work  and  wait  unwearying,  — 

Keep  a-pluggin'  away. 


'    1 


(    'i  ' 


NIGHT  OF  LOVE 

THE  moon  has  left  the  sky,  love, 
The  stars  are  hiding  now, 
And  frowning  on  the  world,  love, 

Night  bares  her  sable  brow. 
The  snow  is  on  the  ground,  love. 
And  cold  and  keen  the  air  is. 
I  'm  singing  here  to  you,  love ; 
You  're  dreaming  there  in  Paris. 

But  this  is  Nature's  law,  love. 
Though  just  it  may  not  seem. 

That  men  should  wake  to  sing,  love. 
While  maidens  sleep  and  dream. 
104 


1?  ^ 


I) 


Lyrics  of  Lowly  Life. 

Them  care  may  not  molest,  love, 
Nor  stir  them  from  their  slumbers, 

Though  midnight  find  the  swain,  love, 
Still  halting  o'er  his  numbers. 

I  watch  the  rosy  dawn,  love. 

Come  stealing  up  the  east, 
While  all  things  round  rejoice,  love, 

That  Night  her  reign  has  ceased. 
The  lark  will  soon  be  heard,  love, 

And  on  his  way  be  winging ; 
When  Nature's  poets  wake,  love. 

Why  should  a  man  be  singing? 


COLUMBIAN   ODE 

I. 

FOUR  hundred  years  ago  a  tangled  waste 
Lay  sleeping  on  the  west  Atlantic's  side ; 
Their  devious  ways  the  Old  World's  millions 
traced 
Content,  and  loved,  and  labored,  dared  and 
died, 

TOS 


Lyrics  of  Lowly  Life. 

While  students  still   believed  the  charts  they 
conned, 

And  revelled  in  their  thriftless  ignorance, 
Nor  dreamed  of  other  lands  that  lay  beyond 

Old  Ocean's  dense,  indefinite  expanse. 


II. 


But  deep  within  her  heart  old  Nature  knew 

That  she  had  once  arrayed,  at  Earth's  behest, 
Another  offspring,  fine  and  fair  to  view,  — 

The  chosen  suckling  of  the  mother's  breast. 
The  child  was  wrapped  in  vestments  soft  and 
fine, 
Each  fold  a  work  of  Nature's  matchless  art ; 
The  mother  looked  on  it  with  love  divine, 
And  strained  the  loved  one  closely  to  her 
heart. 
And  there  it  lay,  and  with  ci^e  warmth  grew 
strong 
And  hearty,  by  the  salt  sea  breezes  fanned, 
Till  Time  with  mellowing  touches  passed  along. 
And  changed  the  infant  to  a  mighty  land. 

1 06 


i 


^^ 


arts  they 

ance, 

leyond 

use. 


2  knew 
h's  behest, 
;w, — 
r's  breast, 
ts  soft  and 

chless  art ; 
Uvine, 
sely  to  her 

rarmth  grew 

es  fanned, 
lassed  along, 
hty  land. 


Lyrics  of  Lowly  Life. 

III. 

But  men  knew  naught  of  this,  till  there  arose 

That  mighty  mariner,  the  Genoese, 
Who  dared  to  try,  in  spite  of  fears  and  foes. 
The  unknown  fortunes  of  unsounded  seas. 
O  noblest  of  Italia's  sons,  thy  bark 

Went  not  alone  into  thai  shrouding  night ! 
O  dauntless  darer  of  the  rayless  dark. 

The  world  sailed  with  thee  to  eternal  light ! 
The  deer-haunts  that  with  game  were  crowded 
then 
To-day  are  tilled  and  cultivated  Irnds ; 
The  schoolhouse   tow'rs  where  Bruin  had  his 
den. 
And  where   the  wigwam   stood  the  chapel 
stands ; 
The  place  that  nurtured  men  of  savage  mien 
Now  teems  with   men   of  Nature's  noblest 
types : 
Where  moved  the  forest- foliage  banner  green, 
Now  flutters   in  the   breeze  the   stars   and 
stripes ! 

107 


I 


if    <] 


Lyrics  of  Lowly  Life. 


A  BORDER  BALLAD. 


OH,  I  have  n't  got  long  to  live,  for  we  all 
Die  soon,  e'en  those  who  live  longest ; 
And  the  poorest  and  weakest  are  taking  their 
chance 
Along  with  the  richest  and  strongest. 
So  it 's  heigho  for  a  glass  and  a  song. 

And  a  bright  eye  over  the  table, 
And  a  dog  for  the  hunt  when  the  game  is  flush. 
And  the  pick  of  a  gentleman's  stable. 

There  is  Dimmock  o'  Dune,  he  was  here  yester- 
night, 
But  he  's  rotting  to-day  on  Glen  Arragh ; 
'T  was  the  hand  o*  MacPherson  that  gave  him 
the  blow. 
And  the  vultures  shall  feast  on  his  marrow. 
But  it 's  heigho  for  a  brave  old  song 

And  a  glass  while  we  are  able ; 
Here  's  a  health  to  death  and  another  cup 
To  the  bright  eye  over  the  table. 

1 08 


II    V 


Lyrics  of  Lowly  Life. 


r  we  all 
longest ; 
king  their 

it. 


I  can  show  a  broad  back  and  a  jolly  deep  chest, 

But  who  argues  now  on  appearance  ? 
A  blow  or  a  thrust  or  a  stumble  at  best 

May  send  me  to-day  to  my  clearance. 
Then  it 's  heigho  for  the  things  I  love, 

My  mother  '11  be  soon  wearing  sable. 
But  give  me  my  horse  and  my  dog  and  my 
glass, 

And  a  bright  eye  over  the  table. 


ne  is  flush, 
le. 

lere  yester- 

Tragh ; 
t  gave  him 

marrow. 


;r  cup 


AN   EASY-GOIN*  FELLER. 

npHER'  ain't  no  use  in  aU  this  strife, 
-^       An'  hurryin',  pell-meH,  right  thro'  life. 
I  don't  believe  in  goin'  too  fast 
To  see  what  kind  o'  road  you  've  passed. 
It  ain't  no  mortal  kind  o'  gOod, 
'N'  I  would  n't  hurry  ef  I  could. 
I  like  to  jest  go  joggin'  'long, 
To  limber  up  my  soul  with  song ; 
To  stop  awhile  'n'  chat  the  men, 
*N'  drink  some  cider  now  an'  then. 

109 


f 


f. 


i:  ^ 


Lyrics  of  Lowly  Life. 

Do'  want  no  boss  a-standin'  by 

To  see  me  work ;  I  alius  try 

To  do  my  dooty  right  straight  up, 

An'  earn  what  fills  my  plate  an'  cup. 

An'  ez  fur  boss,  I  'II  be  my  own, 

I  like  to  jest  be  let  alone, 

To  plough  my  strip  an'  tend  my  bees, 

An'  do  jest  like  I  doggoned  please. 

My  head  's  all  right,  an'  my  heart 's  meller, 

But  I  'm  a  easy-goin'  feller. 


i 


A  NEGRO  LOVE  SONG. 


4  'I 


SEEN  my  lady  home  las'  night, 
Jump  back,  honey,  jump  back. 
Hel'  huh  han'  an'  sque'z  it  tight. 
Jump  back,  honey,  jump  back. 
Kyeahd  huh  sigh  a  little  sigh. 
Seen  a  light  gleam  f  om  huh  eye, 
An»  a  smile  go  flittin'  by  — 
Jump  back,  honey,  jump  back, 
no 


ees, 


's  meller, 


G. 

night, 
ip  back, 
ght, 
)ack. 


Lyrics  of  Lowly  Life. 

Hyeahd  de  win'  blow  thoo  de  pine, 

Jump  back,  honey,  jump  back. 
Mockin'-bird  was  singin'  fine. 

Jump  back,  honey,  jump  back. 
An'  my  hea't  was  beatin'  so. 
When  I  reached  my  lady's  do', 
Dat  I  could  n't  ba'  to  go  — 
Jump  back,  honey,  jump  back. 

Put  my  ahm  aroun'  huh  wais'. 
Jump  back,  honey,  jump  back. 

Raised  huh  lips  an'  took  a  tase. 
Jump  back,  honey,  jump  back. 

Love  me,  honey,  love  me  true? 

Love  me  well  ez  I  love  you? 

An'  she  answe'd,  "  'Cose  I  do  "  — 
Jump  back,  honey,  jump  back. 


eye, 
ack. 


Ill 


% 


V     i' 


n 


Lyrics  of  Lowly  Life. 


*  I 


!■  i 


THE  DILETTANTE:  A  MODERN  TYPE. 

HE  scribbles  some  in  prose  and  verse, 
And  now  and  then  he  prints  it ; 
He  paints  a  little,  —  gathers  some 
Of  Nature's  gold  and  mints  it. 

He  plays  a  little,  sings  a  song, 

Acts  tragic  roles,  or  funny ; 
He  does,  because  his  love  is  strong, 

But  not,  oh,  not  for  money ! 

He  studies  almost  everything 

From  social  art  to  science ; 
A  thirsty  mind,  a  flowing  spring, 

Demand  and  swift  compliance. 


<•  I' 


'     / 


He  looms  above  the  sordid  crowd  — 
At  least  through  friendly  lenses ; 

While  his  mamma  looks  pleased  and  proud, 
And  kindly  pays  expenses. 


112 


N  TYPE. 

i  verse, 
ts  it; 


h 


,nd  proud, 


I 


Lyrics  of  Lowly  Life. 


BY  THE  STREAM. 

BY  the  stream  I  dream  in  calm  delight,  and 
watch  as  in  a  glass. 
How  the  clouds  like  crowds  of  snowy-hued  and 

white-robed  maidens  pass. 
And  the  water  into  ripples  breaks  and  sparkles 

as  it  spreads, 
Like   a  host   of  armored   knights  with   silver 

helmets  on  their  heads. 
And  I  deem  the  stream  an  emblem  fit  of  human 

life  may  go, 
For  I  find  a  mind  may  sparkle  much  and  yet 

but  shallows  show. 
And  a  soul  may  glow  with  myriad  lights  and 

wondrous  mysteries. 
When  it  only  lies  a  dormant  thing  and  mirrors 

what  it  sees. 


8 


"3 


1^ 


ft 


IN 


i 


Lyrics  of  Lowly  Life. 


THE  COLORED  SOLDIERS. 

TF  the  muse  were  mine  to  tempt  it 
■^     And  my  feeble  voice  were  strong, 
If  my  tongue  were  trained  to  measures, 

I  would  sing  a  stirring  song. 
I  would  sing  a  song  heroic 

Of  those  noble  sono  of  Ham, 
Of  the  gallant  colored  soldiers 

Who  fought  for  Uncle  Sam  ! 


In  the  early  days  you  scorned  them. 

And  with  many  a  flip  and  flout 
Said  "  These  battles  are  the  white  man's. 

And  the  whites  will  fight  them  out." 
Up  the  hills  you  fought  and  faltered. 

In  the  vales  you  strove  and  bled. 
While  your  ears  still  heard  the  thunder 

Of  the  foes'  advancing  tread. 
114 


Lyrics  of  Lowly  Life. 


Then  distress  fell  on  the  nation, 

And  the  flag  was  drooping  low ; 
Should  the  dust  pollute  your  banner? 

No  !  the  nation  shouted,  No  ! 
So  when  War,  in  savage  triumph. 

Spread  abroad  his  funeral  pall  — 
Then  you  called  the  colored  soldiers, 

And  they  answered  to  your  call. 


i 


And  like  hounds  unleashed  and  eager 

For  the  life  blood  of  the  prey. 
Sprung  they  forth  and  bore  them  bravely 

In  the  thickest  of  the  fray. 
And  where'er  the  fight  was  hottest. 

Where  the  bullets  fastest  fell. 
There  they  pressed  unblanched  and  fearless 

At  the  very  mouth  of  hell. 

a 

Ah,  they  rallied  to  the  standard 

To  uphold  it  by  their  might ; 
None  were  stronger  in  the  labors. 

None  were  braver  in  the  fight. 


ii 


'{' 


.  •  !| 


!.y 


h 


Lyrics  of  Lowly  Life. 

From  the  blazitig  breach  of  Wagner 
To  the  plains  of  Olustee, 

They  were  foremost  in  the  fight 
Of  the  battles  of  the  free. 


And  at  Pillow  !     God  have  mercy 

On  the  deeds  committed  there, 
And  the  souls  of  those  poor  victims 

Sent  to  Thee  without  a  prayer. 
Let  the  fulness  of  Thy  pity 

O'er  the  hot  wrought  spirits  sway 
Of  the  gallant  colored  soldiers 

Who  fell  fighting  on  that  day  1 


Yes,  the  Blacks  enjoy  their  freedom, 

And  they  won  it  dearly,  too ; 
For  the  life  blood  of  their  thousands 

Did  the  southern  fields  bedew. 
In  the  darkness  of  their  bondage. 

In  the  depths  of  slavery's  night, 
Their  muskets  flashed  the  dawning. 

And  they  fought  their  way  to  light. 
ii6 


Lyrics  of  Lowly  Life. 

They  were  comrades  then  and  brothers, 

Are  they  more  or  less  to-day? 
They  were  good  to  stop  a  bullet 

And  to  front  the  fearful  fray. 
They  were  citizens  and  soldiers, 

When  rebellion  raised  its  head ; 
And  the  traits  that  made  them  worthy,  — 

Ah  !  those  virtues  are  not  dead. 

They  have  shared  your  nightly  vigils. 

They  have  shared  your  daily  toil ; 
And  their  blood  with  yours  commingling 

Has  enriched  the  Southern  soil. 
They  have  slept  and  marched  and  suffered 

'Neath  the  same  dark  skies  as  you. 
They  have  met  as  fierce  a  foeman. 

And  have  been  as  brave  and  true. 


And  their  deeds  shall  find  a  record 

In  the  registry  of  Fame ; 
For  their  blood  has  cleansed  completely 

Every  blot  of  Slavery's  shame. 
117 


Lyrics  of  Lowly  Life. 

So  all  honor  and  all  glory 
To  those  noble  sons  of  Ham 

The  gallant  colored  soldiers 
Who  fought  for  Uncle  Sam  ! 


NATURE  AND  ART. 


TO  MY   FRIEND  CHARLES   BOOTH  NETTLETON. 


H 


I. 

'T^HE  young  queen  Nature,  ever  sweet  and 
-*•  fair, 

Once  on  a  time  fell  upon  evil  days. 
From    hearing  oft    herself    discussed    with 
praise. 
There  grew  within  her  heart  the  longing  rare 
To  see  herself;  and  every  passing  air 
The  warm  desire  fanned  into  lusty  blaze. 
Full  oft   she   sought   this   end    by  devious 
ways. 
But  sought  in  vain,  so  fell  she  in  despair. 

ii8 


.n 


[■LETON. 

sweet  and 

ssed    with 

ing  rare 

blaze. 
)y  devious 

pair. 


Lyrics  of  Lowly  Life. 

For  none  within  her  train  nor  by  her  side 
Could   solve   the   task   or   give   the    envied 

boon. 
So   day   and   night,    beneath   the    sun    and 
moon, 
She  wandered  to  and  fro  unsatisfied, 
Till  Art  came  by,  a  blithe  inventive  elf, 
And  made  a  glass  wherein  she  saw  herself. 

II. 

Enrapt,  the  queen  gazed  on  her  glorious  self, 
Then  trembling  with   the  thrill  of  sudden 

thought. 
Commanded  that  the  skilful  wight  be  brought 
That  she  might  dower  him  with  lands  and  pelf. 
Then  out  upon  the  silent  sea-lapt  shelf 

And  up  the  hills  and  on  the  downs  they 

sought 
Him    who    so    well    and    wondrously    had 
wrought ; 
And  with  much  search  found  and  brought  home 
the  elf. 
But  he  put  by  all  gifts  with  sad  replies, 

119 


5      » 


h 


t'l 


Lyrics  of  Lowly  Life. 

And  from  his  lips  these  words  flowed  forth  like 
wine : 
"  O  queen,  I  want  no  gift  but  thee,"  he  said. 
She  heard  and   looked  on   him   with   love-lit 

eyes, 
Gave  him  her  hand,  low  murmuring,  "  I  am 
thine," 
And  at  the  morrow's  dawning  they  were  wed. 


AFTER  WHILE. 


•is     I' 


A   POEM    OF   FAITH. 

I  THINK  that  though  the  clouds  be  dark, 
That  though  the  waves  dash  o'er  the  bark, 
Yet  after  while  the  light  will  come, 
And  in  calm  waters  safe  at  home 

The  bark  will  anchor. 
Weep  not,  my  sad-eyed,  gray-robed  maid. 
Because  your  fairest  blossoms  fade. 
That  sorrow  still  o'erruns  your  cup. 
And  even  though  you  root  them  up, 

The  weeds  grow  ranker. 

120 


(I         !  ,1 


)rth  like 

he  said, 
love -lit 

"  I  am 

^ere  wed. 


Lyrics  of  Lowly  Life. 

For  after  while  your  tears  shall  cease. 
And  sorrow  shall  give  way  to  peace ; 
The  flowers  shall  bloom,  the  weeds  shall  die, 
And  in  that  faith  seen,  by  and  by 

Thy  woes  shall  perish. 
Smile  at  old  P'ortune's  adverse  tide, 
Smile  when  the  scoffers  sneer  and  chide. 
Oh,  not  for  you  the  gems  that  pale, 
And  not  for  you  the  flowers  that  fail ; 

Let  this  thought  cherish : 


e  dark, 
the  bark, 


laid, 


That  after  while  the  clouds  will  part. 
And  then  with  joy  the  waiting  heart 
Shall  feel  the  light  come  stealing  in, 
That  drives  away  the  cloud  of  sin 

And  breaks  its  power. 
And  you  shall  burst  your  chrysalis, 
And  wing  away  to  realms  of  bliss, 
Untrammefled,  pure,  divinely  free, 
Above  all  earth's  anxiety 

From  that  same  hour. 


121 


^, 


■t 


1 1 ,  fi 


Lyrics  of  Lowly  Life. 


THE  OL'  TUNES. 

YOU  kin  talk  about  yer  anthems 
An*  yer  arias  an'  sich, 
An'  yer  modem  choir-singin' 

That  you  think  so  awful  rich ; 
But  you  orter  heerd  us  youngsters 

In  the  times  now  far  away, 
A-singin'  o*  the  ol'  tunes 
In  the  ol'-fashioned  way. 


There  was  some  of  us  sung  treble 

An'  a  few  of  us  growled  bass, 
An'  the  tide  o'  song  flowed  smoothly 

With  its  'comp'niment  o'  grace ; 
There  was  spirit  in  that  music. 

An'  a  kind  o'  solemn  sway, 
A-singin'  o'  the  ol'  tunes 

In  the  ol'-fashioned  way. 

122 


Lyrics  of  Lowly  Life. 

I  remember  oft  o'  standin' 

In  my  homespun  pantaloons  — 
On  my  face  the  bronze  an'  freckles 

O'  the  suns  o*  youthful  Junes  — 
Thinkin'  that  no  mortal  minstrel 

Ever  chanted  sich  a  lay 
As  the  ol*  tunes  we  was  singin' 

In  the  ol'-fashioned  way. 


'■H 


The  boys  'ud  always  lead  us, 

An'  the  girls  'ud  all  chime  in, 
Till  the  sweetness  o'  the  singin' 

Robbed  the  Hst'nin'  soul  o'  sin ; 
An'  I  used  to  tell  the  parson 

'T  was  as  good  to  sing  as  pray, 
When  the  people  sung  the  ol'  tunes 

In  the  ol'-fashioned  way. 


How  I  long  ag'in  to  hear  'em 
Pourin'  forth  from  soul  to  soul, 

With  the  treble  high  an'  meller. 
An'  the  bass's  mighty  roll ; 

123 


}'    !* 


hi 


fv  ,  ♦■ 


^ 


Lyrics  of  Lowly  Life. 

But  the  times  is  very  diff' rent, 
An'  the  music  heerd  to-day 

Ain't  the  singin'  o'  the  ol'  tunes 
In  the  ol'-fashioned  way. 


Little  screechin'  by  a  woman, 

Little  squawkin'  by  a  man. 
Then  the  organ's  twiddle-twaddle, 

Jest  the  empty  space  to  span,  — 
An'  ef  you  should  even  think  it, 

'T  is  n't  proper  fur  to  say 
That  you  want  to  hear  the  ol'  tunes 

In  the  ol'-fashioned  way. 


But  I  think  that  some  bright  mornin', 

When  the  toils  of  life  air  o'er. 
An'  the  sun  o'  heaven  arisin' 

Glads  with  light  the  happy  shore, 
I  shall  hear  the  angel  chorus, 

In  the  realms  of  endless  day, 
A-singin'  o'  the  ol'  tunes 

In  the  ol'-fashioned  way. 

124 


Lyrics  of  Lowly  Life. 


MELANCHOLIA. 

OILENTLY  without  my  window, 
»^    Tapping  gently  at  the  pane, 

Falls  the  rain. 
Through  the  trees  sighs  the  breeze 

Like  a  soul  in  pain. 
Here  alone  I  sit  and  weep  ; 
Thought  hath  banished  sleep. 


Wearily  I  sit  and  listen 

To  the  water's  ceaseless  drip. 
To  my  lip 

Fate  turns  up  the  bitter  cup, 

Forcing  me  to  sip  ; 
'T  is  a  bitter,  bitter  drink, 
Thus  I  sit  and  think,— 

125 


i     / 


I    n 


^ 


1.'  . 


fc 


■;.*' 


'U 


Lyrics  of  Lowly  Life. 

Thinking  things  unknown  and  awful, 
Thoughts  on  wild,  uncanny  themes. 
Waking  dreams. 

Spectres  dark,  corpses  stark, 
Show  the  gaping  seams 

Whence  the  cold  and  cruel  knife 

Stole  away  their  life. 

Bloodshot  eyes  all  strained  and  staring. 

Gazing  ghastly  into  mine ; 

Blood  like  wine 
On  the  brow  —  clotted  now  — 

Shows  death's  dreadful  sign. 
Lonely  vigil  still  I  keep ; 
Would  that  I  might  sleep  ! 

Still,  oh,  still,  my  brain  is  whirling  ! 

Still  runs  on  my  stream  of  thought ; 

I  am  caught 
In  the  net  fate  hath  set. 

Mind  and  soul  are  brought 
To  destruction's  very  brink ; 
Yet  I  can  but  think  ! 

126 


Lyrics  of  Lowly  Life. 


Eyes  that  look  into  the  future,  — 
Peeping  forth  from  out  my  mind, 
They  will  find 

Some  new  weight,  soon  or  late, 
On  my  soul  to  bind, 

Crushing  all  its  courage  out, — 

Heavier  than  doubt. 

Dawn,  the  Eastern  monarch's  daughter, 

Rising  from  her  dewy  bed, 

Lays  her  head 
'Gainst  the  clouds'  sombre  shrouds 

Now  half  fringed  with  red. 
O'er  the  land  she  'gins  to  peep ; 
Come,  O  gentle  Sleep  ! 

Hark  !  the  morning  cock  is  crowing ; 

Dreams,  like  ghosts,  must  hie  away ; 

'T  is  the  day. 
Rosy  morn  now  is  born ; 

Dark  thoughts  may  not  stay. 
Day  my  brain  from  foes  will  keep ; 
Now,  my  soul,  I  sleep. 


127 


\  m  iH 


h 


mi 


(   I 


'm 


hi 


'I 


Lyrics  of  Lowly  Life. 


THE  WOOING. 

A  YOUTH  went  faring  up  and  down, 
Alack  and  well-a-day. 
He  fared  him  to  the  market  town, 

Alack  and  well-a-day. 
And  there  he  met  a  maiden  fair. 
With  hazel  eyes  and  auburn  hair ; 
His  heart  went  from  him  then  and  there. 
Alack  and  well-a-day. 


>r'n 


She  posies  sold  right  merrily, 
Alack  and  well-a-day ; 
But  not  a  flower  was  fair  as  she. 

Alack  and  well-a-day. 

He  bought  a  rose  and  sighed  a  sigh, 

"  Ah,  dearest  maiden,  would  that  I 

Might  dare  the  seller  too  to  buy  !  " 

Alack  and  well-a-day. 

128 


Lyrics  of  Lowly  Life. 

She  tossed  her  head,  the  coy  coquette, 
Alack  and  well-a-day. 

"  I  'm  not,  sir,  in  the  market  yet," 
Alack  and  well-a-day. 

"  Your  love  must  cool  upon  a  shelf; 

Tho'  much  I  sell  for  gold  and  pelf, 

I  'm  yet  too  young  to  sell  myself," 
Alack  and  well-a-day. 

The  youth  was  filled  with  sorrow  sore, 

Alack  and  well-a-day ; 
And  looked  he  at  the  maid  once  more, 

Alack  and  well-a-day. 
Then  loud  he  cried,  "  Fair  maiden,  if 
Too  young  to  sell,  now  as  I  live. 
You  're  not  too  young  yourself  to  give," 
Alack  and  well-a-day. 

The  little  maid  cast  down  her  eyes. 

Alack  and  well-a-day. 
And  many  a  flush  began  to  rise. 

Alack  and  well-a-day. 
9  "9 


1 


'  — 'WgWH''«;*ai!ei 


Lyrics  of  Lowiy  Life. 


P!"     ♦ 


i 


w 


IS 

i 


**  Why,  since  you  are  so  bold,"  she  said, 
"  I  doubt  not  you  are  highly  bred, 
So  take  me  !  "  and  the  twain  were  wed, 
Alack  and  well-a-day. 


MERRY  AUTUMN. 

IT 's  all  a  farce,  —  these  tales  they  tell 
About  the  breezes  sighing, 
And  moans  astir  o'er  field  and  dell, 
Because  the  year  is  dying. 

Such  principles  are  most  absurd,  — 
I  care  not  who  first  taught  'em  ; 

There  's  nothing  known  to  beast  or  bird 
To  make  a  solemn  autumn. 

In  solemn  times,  when  grief  holds  sway 
With  countenance  distressing, 

You  '11  note  the  more  of  black  and  gray 
Will  then  be  used  in  dressing. 


13c 


Lyrics  of  Lowly  Life. 

Now  purple  tints  are  all  around ; 

The  sky  is  blue  and  mellow ; 
And  e'en  the  grasses  turn  the  ground 

From  modest  green  to  yellow. 

The  seed  burrs  all  with  laughter  crack 

On  featherweed  and  jimson ; 
And  leaves  that  should  be  dressed  in  black 

Are  all  decked  out  in  crimson. 


/';J 


A  butterfly  goes  winging  by ; 

A  singing  bird  comes  after ; 
And  Nature,  all  from  earth  to  sky, 

Is  bubblij  g  o'er  with  laughter. 

The  ripples  wimple  on  the  rills, 
Like  sparkling  little  lasses ; 

The  sunlight  runs  along  the  hills, 
And  laughs  among  the  grasses. 

The  earth  is  just  so  full  of  fun 
It  really  can't  contain  it ; 

And  streams  of  mirth  so  freely  run 
The  heavens  seem  to  rain  it. 


r» 

1 


,! 


r:*, 


■-  •     \ 


Lyrics  of  Lowly  Life. 

Don't  talk  to  me  of  solemn  days 
In  autumn's  time  of  splendor, 

Because  the  sun  shows  fewer  rays, 
And  these  grow  slant  and  slender. 

Why,  it 's  the  climax  of  the  year,  — 
The  h'*ghest  time  of  living  !  — 

Till  naturally  its  bursting  cheer 
Just  melts  into  thanksgiving. 


WHEN  DE  CO'N  PONE'S  HOT. 

DEY  is  times  in  life  when  Nature 
Seems  to  slip  a  cog  an'  go, 
Jes'  a-rattlin*  down  creation, 
Lak  an  ocean's  overflow ; 
V'^en  de  worl'  jes'  stahts  a-spinnin' 

Lak  a  picaninny's  top, 
An'  yo'  cup  o'  joy  is  brimmin' 
'Twell  it  seems  about  to  slop, 
132 


;i 


i  I 


Lyrics  of  Lowly  Life. 

An'  you  feel  jes'  lak  a  racah, 
Dat  is  trainin'  fu'  to  trot 

When  yo'  mammy  says  de  blessin' 
An'  de  co'n  pone  's  hot. 


> 


When  you  set  down  at  de  table. 

Kin'  o'  weary  lak  an'  sad, 
An'  you  'se  jes'  a  little  tiahed 

An'  purhaps  a  little  mad ; 
How  yo'  gloom  tu'ns  into  gladness, 

How  yo'  joy  drives  out  de  doubt 
When  de  oven  do'  is  opened, 

An'  de  smell  comes  po'in'  out ; 
Why,  de  'lectric  light  o'  Heaven ' 

Seems  to  settle  on  de  spot, 
When  yo'  mammy  says  de  blessin' 

An'  de  co'n  pone 's  hot. 


When  de  cabbage  pot  is  steamin' 
An'  de  bacon  good  an'  fat. 

When  de  chittlins  is  a-sputter'n' 
So  's  to  show  you  whah  dey  's  at; 
^33 


u 


n 


in 


*i 


k 


I  . 

1 


■: 


Lyrics  of  Lowly   Life. 

Tck  away  yo*  sody  biscuit, 

Tek  away  yo'  cake  an'  pie, 
Fu'  de  glory  time  is  comin'. 

An'  it 's  'proachin'  mighty  nigh, 
An'  you  want  to  jump  an'  hollah, 

Dough  you  know  you  'd  bettah  not, 
When  yo'  mammy  says  de  blessin'. 

An'  de  co'n  pone  's  hot. 


I  have  hyeahd  o*  lots  o'  sermons,  • 

An'  I  've  hyeahd  o'  lots  o'  prayers. 
An'  I  've  listened  to  some  singin' 

Dat  has  tuck  me  up  de  stairs 
Of  de  Glory- Lan'  an'  set  me 

Jes'  below  de  Mahstah's  th'one. 
An'  have  lef  my  hea't  a-singin' 

In  a  happy  aftah  tone ; 
But  dem  wu'ds  so  sweetly  murmured 

Seem  to  tech  de  softes'  spot, 
When  my  mammy  says  de  blessin', 

An'  de  co'n  pone  's  hot. 


I 


134 


Lyrics  of  Lowly  Life. 


BALLAD. 

I  KNOW  my  love  is  true, 
And  oh  the  day  is  fair. 
The  sky  is  clear  and  blue, 
The  flowers  are  rich  of  hue, 
The  air  I  breathe  is  rare, 
I  have  no  grief  or  care ; 
For  my  own  love  is  true, 
And  oh  the  day  is  fair. 

My  love  is  false  I  find, 

And  oh  the  day  is  dark. 
Blows  sadly  down  the  wind, 
While  sorrow  holds  my  mind ; 

I  do  not  hear  the  lark, 

For  quenched  is  life's  dear  spark. 
My  love  is  false  I  find, 

And  oh  the  day  is  dark ! 

For  love  doth  make  the  day 
Or  dark  or  doubly  bright ; 
Her  beams  along  the  way 
Dispel  the  gloom  and  gray. 
135 


d' 


il 


(  t 


^^n 


i 


Lyrics  ot  Lowly  Life. 

She  lives  and  all  is  bright. 
She  dies  and  life  is  night. 
For  love  doth  make  the  day, 
Or  dark  or  doubly  bright. 


T 


THE  CHANGE  HAS  COME. 

HE  change  has  come,  and  Helen  sleeps — 
Not  sleeps ;  but  wakes  to  greater  deeps 
Of  wisdom,  glory,  truth,  and  light. 
Than  ever  blessed  her  seeking  sight, 
In  this  low,  long,  lethargic  night, 
Worn  out  with  strife 
Which  men  call  life. 

The  change  has  come,  and  who  would  say 
"  I  would  it  were  not  come  to-day  "? 
What  were  the  respite  till  to-morrow? 
Postponement  of  a  certain  sorrow, 
From  which  each  passing  day  would  borrow  ! 
Let  grief  be  dumb. 
The  change  has  come. 
136 


Li\ 


Lyrics  of  Lowly  Life. 


1 '■'• 
J 


COMPARISON. 

THE  sky  of  brightest  gray  seems  dark 
To  one  whose  sky  was  ever  white. 
To  one  who  never  knew  a  spark, 
Thro'  all  his  life,  of  love  or  light. 
The  grayest  cloud  seems  over-bright. 

The  robm  sounds  a  beggar's  note 
Where  one  the  nightingale  has  heard, 

But  he  for  whom  no  silver  throat 
Its  liquid  music  ever  stirred. 
Deems  robin  still  the  sweetest  bird. 


\  \ 


i  .^'i 


.>  i«<ii 


A  CORN-SONG. 

/^N  the  wide  veranda  white, 

^^     In  the  purple  failing  light, 

Sits  the  master  while  the  sun  is  lowly  burning; 

And  his  dreamy  thoughts  are  drowned 

In  the  softly  flowing  sound 

Of   the    corn-songs   of    the    field-hands   slow 
returning. 

137 


(  \  ''* 


u 


r^ 


^-  hi 


•^>^£ 


♦ 


ft?  ,♦  rj 


lljli 


It 

'I 


Lyrics  of  Lowly  Life. 

Oh,  we  hoe  de  co'n 
Since  de  ehly  mo'n ; 
Now  de  smkin'  sun 
Says  de  day  is  done. 

O'er  the  fields  with  heavy  tread, 
Light  of  heart  and  high  of  head, 
Though  the  halting  steps  be  labored,  slow,  and 

weary ; 
Still  the  spirits  brave  and  strong 
Find  a  comforter  in  song. 
And  their  corn-song  rises  ever  loud  and  cheery. 

Oh,  we  hoe  de  co'n 
Since  de  ehly  mo'n ; 
Now  de  sinkin'  sun 
Says  de  day  is  done. 

To  the  master  in  his  seat, 
Comes  the  burden,  full  and  sweet, 
Of  the  mellow  minor  music  growing  clearer. 
As  the  toilers  raise  the  hymn. 
Thro'  the  silence  dusk  and  dim. 
To  the  cabin's  restful  shelter  drawing  nearer. 

138 


slow,  and 


d  cheery. 


Lyrics  of  Lowly   Life. 

Oh,  we  hoe  de  co'n 
Since  de  ehly  mo'n ; 
Now  de  sinkin'  sun 
Says  de  day  is  done. 

And  a  tear  is  in  the  eye 

Of  the  master  sitting  by. 

As  he  listens  to  the  echoes  low-replying 

To  the  music's  fading  calls 

As  it  faints  away  and  falls 

Into  silence,  deep  within  the  cabin  dying. 

Oh,  we  hoe  de  co'n 
Since  de  ehly  mo'n  j 
Now  de  sinkin'  sun 
Says  de  day  is  done. 


h    \ 


r   i 


:learer. 


:  nearer. 


DISCOVERED. 

SEEN  you  down  at  chu'ch  las'  night, 
Nevah  min',  Miss  Lucy. 
What  I  mean?  oh,  dat  's  all  right, 
Nevah  min'.  Miss  Lucy. 
139 


ItJ 


Lyrics  of  Lowly  Life. 

You  was  sma't  ez  sma't  could  be, 
But  you  could  n't  hide  f 'om  me. 
Ain't  I  got  two  eyes  to  see  ! 
Nevah  min',  Miss  Lucy. 

Guess  you  thought  you  's  awful  keen ; 

Nevah  min',  Miss  Lucy. 
Evahthing  you  done,  I  seen ; 

Nevah  min*,  Miss  Lucy. 
Seen  him  tek  yo'  ahm  jes'  so, 
When  he  got  outside  de  do'  — 
Oh,  I  know  dat  man 's  yo'  beau  ! 

Nevah  min'.  Miss  Lucy. 

Say  now,  honey,  wha  'd  he  say  ?  — 

Nevah  min'.  Miss  Lucy  ! 
Keep  yo  secrets  —  dat  *s  yo'  way  — 

Nevah  min'.  Miss  Lucy. 
Won't  tell  me  an'  I  'm  yo'  pal  — 
I  'm  gwine  tell  his  othah  gal,  — 
Know  huh,  too,  huh  name  is  Sal ; 

Nevah  min'.  Miss  Lucy  I 


140 


Lyrics  of  Lowly  Life. 


:#* 


DISAPPOINTED. 

AN  old  man  planted  and  dug  and  tended, 
Toiling  in  joy  from  dew  to  dew ; 
The  sun  was  kind,  and  the  rain  befriended  ; 

Fine  grew  his  orchard  and  fair  to  view. 
Then  he  said  :  "  I  will  quiet  my  thrifty  fears, 
For  here  is  fruit  for  my  failing  years." 

But  even  then  the  storm-clouds  gathered, 

Swallowing  up  the  azure  sky ; 
The  sweeping  winds  into  white  foam  lathered 

The  placid  breast  of  the  bay,  hard  by ; 
Then  the  spirits  that  raged  in  the  darkened  air 
Swept  o'er  his  orchard  and  left  it  bare. 

The  old  man  stood  in  the  rain,  uncaring, 
Viewing  the  place  the  storm  had  swept ; 

And  then  with  a  cry  from  his  soul  despairing. 
He  bowed  him  down  to  the  earth  and  wept. 

But  a  voice  cried  aloud  from  the  driving  rain ; 

"Arise,  old  man,  and  plant  again  ! " 

141 


^jfl 


«>''ammi^nmm»timmm\  \ 


If 


K 


>, 


Lyrics  of  Lowly  Life. 


.     y     u 


.♦ 


INVITATION  TO  LOVE. 

COME  when   the   nights   are    bright    with 
stars 
Or  when  tho  moon  is  mellow ; 
Come  when  the  sun  his  golden  bars 

Drops  on  the  hay-field  yellow. 
Come  in  the  twilight  soft  and  gray, 
Come  in  the  night  or  come  in  the  day, 
Come,  O  Love,  whene'er  you  may, 
And  you  are  welcome,  welcome. 


m 


You  are  sweet,  O  Love,  dear  Love, 
You  are  soft  as  the  nesting  dove. 
Come  to  my  heart  and  bring  it  rest 
As  the  bird  flies  home  to  its  welcome  nest. 

Come  when  my  heart  is  full  of  grief 

Or  when  my  heart  is  merry ; 
Come  with  the  falling  of  the  leaf 

Or  with  the  redd'ning  cherry. 

142 


s\ 


Lyrics  of  Lowly  Life. 

Come  when  the  year's  first  blossom  blows, 
Come  when  the  summer  gleams  and  glows, 
Come  with  the  winter's  drifting  snows. 
And  you  are  welcome,  welcome. 


''»j 


I    I. 


HE  HAD  HIS  DREAM. 

HE  had  his  dream,  and  all  through  life. 
Worked  up  to  it  through  toil  and  strife. 
Afloat  fore'er  before  his  eyes. 
It  colored  for  him  all  his  skies : 

The  storm-cloud  dark 

Above  his  bark. 
The  calm  and  listless  vault  of  blue 
Took  on  its  hopeful  hue. 
It  tinctured  every  passing  beam  — 

He  had  his  dream. 

He  labored  hard  and  failed  at  last. 
His  sails  too  weak  to  bear  the  blast. 
The  raging  tempests  tore  away 
And  sent  his  beating  bark  astray. 

143 


}; 


11 


t  i  H 


f 


i 


Lyrics  of  Lowly  Life. 

But  what  cared  he 

For  wind  or  sea  ! 
He  said,  *'  The  tempest  will  be  short, 
My  bark  will  come  to  port." 
He  saw  thrcngh  every  cloud  a  gleavn  — 

lie  iia.i  his  dieam. 


GOOD-NIGHT. 

THE  lark  is  silent  in  his  nest. 
The  breeze  is  sighing  in  its  flight, 
Sleep,  Love,  and  peaceful  be  thy  rest. 

Good-night,  my  love,  good-night,  good-night. 

Sweet  dreams  attend  thee  in  thy  sleep, 
To  soothe  thy  rest  till  morning's  light, 

And  angels  round  thee  vigil  keep. 

Good-night,  my  love,  good-night,  good-night. 

Sleep  well,  my  love,  on  night's  dark  breast, 
And  ease  thy  soul  with  slumber  bright ; 

Be  joy  but  thine  and  I  am  blest. 

Good- nighty  my  love,  good-night,  good-night. 

144 


Lyrics  of  Lowly  Life. 


rt, 


,m  — 


A  COQUETTE   CONQUERED. 

YEb,  my  ha't  's  ez  ha'd  ez  stone  — 
Go  'way,  Sam,  an'  lemme  'lone. 
No ;  I  ain't  gwine  change  my  min'  — 
Ain't  gwine  ma'y  you  —  nuffin'  de  kin*. 


!)i\ 


ht, 
lod-night. 

It, 

)od-night. 

reast, 
rht; 

Qod-night. 


Phiny  loves  you  true  an'  deah  ? 
Go  ma'y  Phiny;  whut  I  keer? 
Oh,  you  needn't  mou'n  ar/'  cry  — 
I  don't  keer  how  soon  you  die. 

Got  a  present !     Whut  you  got  ? 
Somef  n  fu'  de  pan  er  pot ! 
Huh  !  yo'  sass  do  sholy  beat  — 
Think  I  don't  git  'nough  to  eat? 

Whut 's  dat  un'neaf  yo'  coat  ? 

Looks  des  lak  a  little  shoat. 

'T  ain't  no  possum  !     Bless  de  Lamb  I 

Yes,  it  is,  you  rascal,  Sam  ! 

10  H5 


I 


■J 


M 


y 


V 


<       1 


Lyrics  of  Lowly  Life. 


f 


Gin  it  to  me ;  whut  you  say? 
Ain't  you  sma't  now  !     Oh,  go  'way  ! 
Possum  do  look  mighty  nice, 
But  you  ax  too  big  a  price. 

Tell  me,  is  you  talkin'  true, 

Dat  's  de  gal's  whut  ma'ies  you? 

Come  back,  Sam ;  now  whah  's  you  gwine  ? 

Co'se  you  knows  dat  possum 's  mine  ! 


i* 


m 


NORA:  A  SERENADE 

AH,  Nora,  my  Nora,  the  light  fades  away, 
While  Night  like  a  spirit  steals  up  o'er 
the  hills ; 
The  thrush  from  his  tree  where  he  chanted  all 
day. 
No  longer  his  music  in  ecstasy  trills. 
Then,  Nora,  be  near  me;  thy  presence  doth 
cheer  me. 
Thine  eye  hath  a  gleam  that  is  truer  than 

gold. 

146 


mne? 


away, 
up  o'er 

mted  all 


ce  doth 
iier  than 


Lyrics  of  Lowly  Life. 

I  cannot  but  love  thee  ;  so  do  not  reprove  me, 
If  the  strength  of  my  passion  should  make 
me  too  bold. 

Nora,  pride  of  my  heart,.  — 

Rg:}'    cheeks,    cherry    lips,   sparkling    with 
glee,  -— 
Wake  from  thy  slumbers,  wherever  thou  art ; 

Wake  from  thy  slumbers  to  me. 

Ah,  Nora,  my  Nora,  there 's  love  in  the  air,  — 

It  stirs  in  the  numbers  that  thrill  in  my  brain ; 

Oh,  sweet,  sweet  is  love  with  its  mingling  of 

care, 

Though  joy  travels  only  a  step  before  pain. 

Be  roused  from  thy  slumbers  and  list  to  my 

numbers ; 

My  heart  is  poured  out  in  this  song  unto 

thee. 

Oh,  be    thou   not  cruel,  thou   treasure,  thou 

jewel ; 

Turn  thine  ear  to  my  pleading  and  hearken 

to  me. 

147 


■i: 


■■{ 


!|l 


I      ! 

li 


,1  V 


k 


Lyrics  of  Lowly  Life. 


I     I 


K  : 


OCTOBER. 

OCTOBER  is  the  treasurer  of  the  year, 
And  all  the  months  pay  bounty  to  her 
store ; 
The  fields  and  orchards  still  their  tribute  bear, 
And  fill  her  brimming  coffers  more  and  more. 
But  she,  with  youthful  lavishness, 
Spends  all  her  wealth  in  gaudy  dress, 
And  decks  herself  in  garments  bold 
Of  scarlet,  purple,  red,  and  gold. 


? 


She  heedeth  not  how  swift  the  hours  fly. 
But  smiles  and  sings  her  happy  life  along ; 

She  only  sees  above  a  shining  sky ; 

She  only  hears  the  breezes'  voice  in  song. 

Her  garments  trail  the  wooc'iands  through, 

And  gather  pearls  of  early  dew 
That  sparkle,  till  the  roguish  Sun 
Creeps  up  and  steals  them  every  one. 

148 


U 


Lyrics  of  Lowly  Life, 


«i 


:ar, 

y  to  her 

te  bear, 
id  more. 


along ; 

song. 
)ugh, 


le. 


But  what  cares  she  that  jewels  should  be  lost, 
When  all   of  Nature's  bounteous  wealth  is 
hers? 

Though  princely  fortunes  may  have  been  their 
cost, 
Not  one  regret  her  calm  demeanor  stirs. 

Whole-hearted,  happy,  careless,  free, 

She  lives  her  life  out  joyously, 

Nor  cares  when  Frost  stalks  o'er  her  way 
And  turns  her  auburn  locks  to  gray. 


A  SUMMER'S  NIGHT. 

nPHE  night  is  dewy  as  a  maiden's  mouth, 
-*•      The  skies  are  bright  as  are  a  maiden's 
eyes. 
Soft  as  a  maiden's  breath  the  wind  that  flies 
Up  from  the  perfumed  bosom  of  the  South. 

149 


1^ 


1 


i% 


i  '^j 


'I' 


I, 


Lyrics  of  Lowly  Life. 


>  ■-., 


■■• 


m 


\ 


Like  sentinels,  the  pines  stand  in  the  park ; 
And  hither  hastening,  like  rakes  that  roam, 
With  lamps  to  light  their  wayward  footsteps 
home, 

The  fireflies  come  stagg'ring  down  the  dark. 


SHIPS  THAT  PASS  IN  THE  NIGHT. 

OUT  in  the  sky  the  great  dark  clouds  are 
massing ; 
I  look  far  out  into  the  pregnant  night. 
Where  I  can  hear  a  solemn  booming  gun 

And  catch  the  gleaming  of  a  random  light, 
That  tells  me  that  the  ship  I  seek  is  passing, 
passing. 

My  tearful    eyes    my  soul's    deep    hurt  are 
glassing ; 
For  I  would  hail  and  check   that  ship  of 
ships. 

ISO 


am, 

tsteps 

•k. 


}HT. 

ids  are 


gbt, 
passing, 


urt  are 
ship  of 


I 


Lyrics  of  Lowly  Life. 

I  stretch  my  hands  imploring,  cry  aloud, 

My  voice  falls  dead  a  foot  from  mine  own 
lips. 

And  but  its  ghost  doth  reach  that  vessel,  pass- 
ing, passing. 

O  Earth,  O  Sky,  O  Ocean,  both  surpassing, 
O    heart   of  mine,  O  soul  that  dreads  the 
dark ! 
Is  there  no  hope  for  me  ?     Is  there  no  way 
That  I  may  sight  and  check  that  speeding 
bark 
Which  out  of    siji^  '    ;nd    sound   is  passing, 
passing  ? 


ThH  DELINQUENT. 

GOO'-BY,  Jinks,  I  got  to  hump, 
Got  to  mek  dis  pony  jump ; 
See  dat  sun  a-goin'  down 
'N'  me  a-foolin'  hyeah  in  town ! 
Git  up,  Suke  —  go  long  ! 
iSi 


I    I  ] 


I 


•f 


.r\4 


Lyrics  of  Lowly  Life, 

Guess  Mirandy  *11  think  I 's  tight, 
Me  not  home  an'  comin'  on  night. 
What 's  dat  stan'in'  by  de  fence  ? 
Pshaw  !  why  don't  I  lu'n  some  sense? 
Git  up,  Suke  —  go  long ! 

Guess  I  spent  down  dah  at  Jinks' 
Mos'  a  dollah  fur  de  drinks. 
Bless  yo'r  soul,  you  see  dat  star? 
Lawd,  but  won't  Mirandy  rar? 
Git  up,  Suke  —  go  long  ! 

Went  dis  mo'nin',  hyeah  it 's  night, 
Dah  's  de  cabin  dah  in  sight. 
Who 's  dat  stan'in'  in  de  do'  ? 
Dat  must  be  Mirandy,  sho'. 
Git  up,  Suke  —  go  long ! 

Got  de  close-stick  in  huh  han', 

Dat  look  funny,  goodness  Ian', 

Sakes  alibe,  but  she  look  glum  ! 

Hyeah,  Mirandy,  hyeah  I  come  ! 

Git  up,  Suke  —  go  long  1 

Ef  't  had  n't  a  be'n  fur  you,  you  slow  ole  fool, 

I  'd  a'  be'n  home  long  fo'  now ! 

152 


Lyrics  of  Lowly  Life. 


e  fool, 


DAWN. 

AN  angel,  robed  in  spotless  white, 
Bent  down    and    kissed    the   sleeping 
Night. 
Night  woke  to  blush ;  the  sprite  v  as  gone. 
Men  saw  the  blush  and  called  it  Dawn. 

A  DROWSY  DAY. 

THE  air  is  dark,  the  sky  is  gray. 
The  misty  shadows  come  and  go, 
And  here  within  my  dusky  room 
Each  chair  looks  ghostly  in  the  gloom. 

Outside  the  rain  falls  cold  and  slow  — 
Half-stinging  drops,  half-blinding  spray. 

Each  slightest  sound  is  magnified. 
For  drowsy  quiet  holds  her  reign ; 

The  burnt  stick  in  the  fireplace  breaks, 

The  nodding  cat  with  start  awakes, 
And  then  to  sleep  drops  off  again, 

Unheeding  Towser  at  her  side. 

153 


\ 


'I    \ 


\   (^ 


:  at'.i.'i.T-gBa'giw-jT-^rg— 


Lyrics  of  Lowly  Life. 

I  look  far  out  across  the  lawn, 

Where  huddled  stand  the  silly  sheep ; 

My  work  lies  idle  at  my  hands, 

My  thoughts  fly  out  like  scattered  strands 
Of  thread,  and  on  the  verge  of  sleep  — 

Still  half  awake  —  I  dream  and  yawn. 

What  spirits  rise  before  my  eyes  ! 

How  various  of  kind  and  form  ! 
Sweet  memories  of  days  long  past, 
The  dreams  of  youth  that  could  not  last, 

Each  smiling  calm,,  each  raging  storm, 
That  swept  across  my  early  skies. 


-1,1 


Half  seen,  the  bare,  gaunt-fingered  boughs 
Before  my  window  sweep  and  sway, 

And  chafe  in  tortures  of  unrest. 

My  chin  sinks  down  upon  my  breast ; 
I  cannot  work  on  such  a  day. 

But  only  sit  and  dream  and  drowse. 


154 


-M« 


Lyrics  of  Lowly  Life. 


DIRGE. 

PLACE  this  bunch  of  mignonette 
In  her  cold,  dead  hand ; 
When  the  golden  sun  is  set, 
Where  the  poplars  stand. 
Bury  her  from  sun  and  day. 
Lay  my  little  love  away 
From  my  sight. 

She  was  like  a  modest  flower 

Blown  in  sunny  June, 
Warm  as  sun  at  noon's  high  hour. 

Chaster  than  the  moon. 
Ah,  her  day  was  brief  and  bright. 
Earth  has  lost  a  star  of  light ; 
She  is  dead. 

Softly  breathe  her  name  to  me,  — 

Ah,  I  loved  her  so. 
Gentle  let  your  tribute  be ; 

None  may  better  know 
Her  true  worth  than  I  wko  weep 
O'er  her  as  she  lies  asleep  — 
Soft  asleep. 
^55 


»    ■ 


T 


(!♦ 


K  1  ^ 


i\   f    < 


1    ' 


1^' 


U  ' 


Lyrics  of  Lowly  Life. 

Lay  these  lilies  on  her  breast, 
They  are  not  more  white 

Than  the  soul  of  her,  at  rest 
'Neath  their  petals  bright. 

Chant  your  aves  soft  and  low. 

Solemn  be  your  tread  and  slow,  — 
She  is  dead. 

Lay  her  here  beneath  the  grass, 
Cool  and  green  and  sweet. 

Where  the  gentle  brook  may  pass 
Crooning  at  her  feet. 

Nature's  bards  shall  come  and  sing, 

And  the  fairest  flowers  shall  spring 
Where  she  lies. 

Safe  above  the  water's  swirl, 
She  has  crossed  the  bar ; 
Earth  has  lost  a  precious  pearl, 

Heaven  has  gained  a  star. 
That  shall  ever  sing  and  shine, 
Till  it  quells  this  grief  of  mine 
For  my  love. 
156 


Lyrics  of  Lowly  Life. 


HYMN. 


ing, 
ng 


WHEN  storms  arise 
And  dark'ning  skies 
About  me  threat'ning  lower, 
To  thee,  O  Lord,  I  raise  mine  eyes, 
To  thee  my  tortured  spirit  flies 
For  solace  in  that  hour. 

Thy  mighty  arm 
Will  let  no  harm 

Come  near  me  nor  befall  me  ; 
Thy  voice  shall  quiet  my  alarm. 
When  life's  great  battle  waxeth  warm 

No  foeman  shall  appall  me. 

Upon  thy  breast 
Secure  I  rest, 

From  sorrow  and  vexation ; 
No  more  by  sinful  cares  oppressed, 
But  in  thy  presence  ever  blest, 

O  God  of  my  salvation. 
157 


If 

ii  . 
ti  'I 

h    > 


n 


k 


r  i  • 


Lyrics  of  Lowly  Life. 


't  • 


k- 


I 


PREPARATION. 

THE  little  bird  sits  in  the  nest  and  sings 
A  shy,  soft  song  to  the  morning  light ; 
And  it  flutters  a  Httle  and  prunes  its  wings. 
The  song  is  halting  and  poor  and  brief, 
And  the  fluttering  wings  scarce  stir  a  leaf; 
But  the  note  is  a  prelude  to  sweeter  things, 
And  the  busy  bill  and  the  flutter  slight 
Are  proving  the  wings  for  a  bolder  flight ! 


THE  DESERTED  PLANTATION. 


■■'»!!■- 


OH,  de  grubbin'-hoe  's  a-rustin'  in  de  co'nah, 
An*  de  plow's  a-tiimblin'  down  in  de 
fiel'. 
While  de  whippo'will  's  a-wailin*  lak  a  mou'nah 
When  his  stubbo'n  hea't  is  tryin'   ha'd  to 
yiel'. 

158 


Lyncs  of  Lowly  Life. 

In  de  furrers  whah  de  co'n  was  alius  wavin', 
Now  de  weeds  is  growin'  green  an'  rank  an' 
tall ; 
An'  de  swallers  roun'  de  whole  place  is  a-bravin' 
Lak  dey  thought  deir  folks  had  alius  owned  it 
all. 

An'  de  big  house  Stan's  all  quiet  lak  an'  solemn, 
Not  a  blessed  soul  in  pa'lor,  po'ch,  er  lawn ; 

Not  a  guest,  ner  not  a  ca'iage  lef  to  haul  'em, 
Fu'  de  ones  dat  tu'ned  de  latch-string  out  air 
gone. 

An'  de  banjo's  voice  is  silent  in  de  qua'ters, 
D'  ain't  a  hymn  ner  co'n-song  ringin'  in  de 
air; 

But  de  murmur  of  a  branch's  passin'  waters 
Is  de  only  soun'  dat  breks  de  stillness  dere. 

Whah 's  de  da'kies,  dem  dat  used  to  be  a-dancin' 

Evry  night  befo'  de  ole  cabin  do'  ? 
Whah 's  de    chillun,    dem    dat    used    to    be 
a-prancin' 
Er  a-rollin'  in  de  san'  er  on  de  flo'  ? 

159 


■J 


I 


in 


'  > 


/', 


'I 


:.!! 


ih 


.^. 


t  / 


Lyrics  of  Lowly  Life. 

Whah  's  ole  Uncle  Mordecai  an'  Uncle  Aaron  ? 
Whah  's  Aunt  Doshy,  Sam,  an'  Kit,  an'  all  de 
res'  ? 
Whah's  ole  Tom  de  da'ky  fiddlah,  how's  he 
farin'  ? 
Whah 's  de  gals  dat  used  to  sing  an'  dance  de 
bes'? 


M, 


i 


h 


'■{ 


/ 

i ' 


Gone  !  not  one  o'  dem  is  leP  to  tell  de  story ; 

Dey  have  lef  de  deah  ole  place  to  fall  away. 
Could  n't  one  o'  dem  dat  seed  it  in  its  glory 

Stay  to  watch  it  in  de  hour  of  decay  ? 

Dey  have  lef  de  ole  plantation  to  de  swallers, 
But  it  hoi's  in  me  a  lover  till  de  las' ; 

Fu'  1  fin'  hyeah  in  de  memory  dat  follers 
All  dat  loved  ma  an'  dat  I  loved  in  de  pas*. 

So  I  '11  stay  an'  watch  de  deah  ole  place  an' 
tend  it 
Ez  I  used  to  in  de  happy  days  gone  by. 
'Twell  de  othah  Mastah  thinks  it 's  time  to  end  it, 
An'  calls  me  to  my  qua'ters  in  de  sky. 

1 60 


;'.  i^ 


"  -VK  "IIM^HWrWP^WBWW 


Lyrics  of  Lowly  Life. 


^aron? 
'  all  de 


)w*s  he 


lance  de 


story; 
ill  away, 
glory 
? 

iwallers, 

icrs 

de  pas*. 


place 


an 


by. 

to  end  it, 


THE  SECRET. 

W  7HAT  says  the  wind  to  the  waving  trees? 

V  V       What  says  the  wave  to  the  river  ? 
What  means  the  sigh  in  the  passing  breeze  ? 

Why  do  the  rushes  quiver? 
Have  you  not  heard  the  fainting  cry 
Of  the  flowers  that  said  "  Good-bye,  good-bye  "  ? 

List  how  the  gray  dove  moans  and  grieves 

Under  the  woodland  cover ; 
List  to  the  drift  of  the  falling  leaves, 

List  to  the  wail  of  the  lover. 
Have  you  not  caught  the  message  heard 
Already  by  wave  and  breeze  and  bird  ? 

Come,  come  away  to  the  river's  bank, 

Come  in  the  early  morning  ; 
Come  when  the  grass  with  dew  is  dank. 

There  you  will  find  the  warning  — 
A  hint  in  the  kiss  of  the  quickening  air 
Of  the  secret  that  birds  and  breezes  bear. 


II 


i6i 


\\ 


K 


,."^'. 


IMAGE  EVALUATION 
TEST  TARGET  (MT-3) 


1.0 


1.1 


ISO 


2.5 


m 


12.2 


'^   B^    12.0 


m  i  u  w  1.6 


1 

^                                                                                      « #/                                                                                      ^1 

w 

^\ 

% 


A 


^W'     e'l 


>' 


^/     /^^. 


/A 


.^ 


/ 


w 


'/ 


Hiotographic 

Sciences 

Corporation 


23  WEST  MAIN  STREET 

WEBSTER,  N.Y.  145S0 

(716)S73-4S03 


p 

^  A 


I  ■ 


Lyrics  of  Lowly  Life. 


THE  WIND  AND  THE  SEA. 

I  STOOD  by  the  shore  at  the  death  of  day, 
As  the  sun  sank  flaming  red ; 
And  the  face  of  the  waters  that  spread  away 
Was  as  gray  as  the  face  of  the  dead. 


^!! 


ki 


And  I  heard  the  cry  of  the  wanton  sea 
And  the  moan  of  the  wailing  wind ; 

For  love's  sweet  pain  in  his  heart  had  he, 
But  the  gray  old  sea  had  sinned. 

The  wind  was  young  and  the  sea  was  old. 
But  their  cries  went  up  together ; 

The  wind  was  warm  and  the  sea  was  cold. 
For  age  makes  wintry  weather. 

So  they  cried  aloud  and  they  wept  amain, 
Till  the  sky  grew  dark  to  hear  it ; 

And  out  of  its  folds  crept  the  misty  rain, 
In  its  shroud,  like  a  troubled  spirit. 

162 


1^ 


Lyrics  of  Lowly  Life. 

For  the  wind  was  wild  with  a  hopeless  love, 

And  the  sea  was  sad  at  heart 
At  many  a  crime  that  he  wot  of, 

Wherein  he  had  played  his  part. 

He  thought  of  the  gallant  ships  gone  down 

By  the  will  of  his  wicked  waves ; 
And  he  thought  how  the  churchyard  in  the  town 

Held  the  sea-made  widows'  graves. 

The  wild  wind  thought  of  the  love  he  had  left 

Afar  in  an  Eastern  land, 
And  he  longed,  as  long  the  much  bereft, 

For  the  touch  of  her  perfumed  hand. 

In  his  winding  wail  and  his  deep-heaved  sigh 

His  aching  grief  found  vent ; 
While  the  sea  looked  up  at  the  bending  sky 

And  murmured :  "  I  repent." 

But  e'en  as  he  spoke,  a  ship  came  by. 

That  bravely  ploughed  the  main. 
And  a  light  came  into  the  sea's  green  eye. 

And  his  heart  grew  hard  again. 

163 


I? 


f 

n 

! 

.:\ 

\\y 

1 

{. ' 

• 

'1 

'^ 

'■■■ 

'■ 

•I 


I 


v: 


i  i 


Lyrics  of  Lowly  Life. 

Then  he  spoke  to  the  wind:  "Friend,  seest 
thou  not 

Yon  vessel  is  eastward  bound  ? 
Pray  speed  with  it  to  the  happy  spot 

Where  thy  loved  one  may  be  found." 

And  the  wind  rose  up  in  a  dear  delight, 

And  after  the  good  ship  sped ; 
But  the  crafty  sea  by  his  wicked  might 

Kept  the  vessel  ever  ahead. 

Till  the  wind  grew  fierce  in  his  despair, 

And  white  on  the  brow  and  lip. 
He  tore  his  garments  and  tore  his  hair, 

And  fell  on  the  flying  ship. 

And  the  ship  went  down,  for  a  rock  was  there. 
And  the  sailless  sea  loomed  black ; 

While  burdened  again  with  dole  and  care. 
The  wind  came  moaning  back. 

And  still  he  moans  from  his  bosom  hot 

Where  his  raging  grief  lies  pent, 
And  ever  when  the  siaps  come  not, 

The  sea  says :  "  I  repent." 

164 


Lyrics  of  Lowly  Life. 


RIDING  TO  TOWN. 

WHEN  labor  is  light  and  the  morning  is 
fair, 
I  find  it  a  pleasure  beyond  all  compare 
To  hitch  up  my  nag  and  go  hurrying  down 
And  take  Katie  May  for  a  ride  into  town ; 
For  bumpety-bump  goes  the  wagon, 
But  tra-la-la-la  our  lay. 
There 's  joy  in  a  song  as  we  rattle  along 
In  the  light  of  the  glorious  day. 


I  a 


A  coach  would  be  fine,  but  a  spring  wagon's 

good; 
My  jeans  are  a  match  for  Kate's  gingham  and 

hood ; 
The  hills  take  us  up  and  the  vales  take  us  down. 
But  what  matters  that  ?  we  are  riding  to  town, 

165 


'    I 


m 


1^' 


hi 

1 

■■■1 


11 


:.') 


p>i 


Lyrics  of  Lowly  Life. 

And  bumpety-bump  goes  the  wagon, 
But  tra-la-la-la  sing  we. 
There  's  never  a  care  may  live  in  the  air 
That  is  filled  with  the  breath  of  our  glee. 

And   after  we've   started,  there's  naught  can 

repress 
The  thrill  of  our  hearts  in  their  wild  happiness ; 
The  heavens  may  smile  or  the  heavens  may  frown, 
And  it 's  all  one  to  us  when  we  're  riding  to  town. 
For  bumpety-bump  goes  the  wagon, 
But  tra-la-la-la  we  shout. 
For  our  hearts  they  are  clear  and  there 's  noth- 
ing to  fear. 
And  we  've  never  a  pain  nor  a  doubt. 

The  wagon  is  weak  and  the  roadway  is  rough. 

And  tho'  it  is  long  it  is  not  long  enough, 

For  mid  all  my  ecstasies  this  is  the  crown 

To  sit  beside  Katie  and  ride  into  town. 

When  bumpety-bump  goes  the  wagon, 

But  tra-la-la-la  our  song ; 

And  if  I  had  my  way,  I  'd  be  willing  to  pay 

If  the  road  could  be  made  twice  as  long. 

i66 


i!, 


'itlairififrtiir- 


Lyrics  of  Lowly  Life. 


WE  WEAR  THE  MASK. 

T  T  ?"£  wear  the  mask  that  grins  and  lies, 
*  *       It  hides  our  cheeks  and  shades  our 
eyes,  — 
This  debt  we  pay  to  human  guile ; 
With  torn  and  bleeding  hearts  we  smile, 
And  mouth  with  myriad  subtleties. 


Why  should  the  world  be  over-wise, 
In  counting  all  our  tears  and  sighs? 
Nay,  let  them  only  see  us,  while 
We  wear  the  mask. 

We  smile,  but,  O  great  Christ,  our  cries 
To  thee  from  tortured  souls  arise. 
We  sing,  but  oh  the  clay  is  vile 
Beneath  our  feet,  and  long  the  mile ; 
But  let  the  world  dream  otherwise, 
We  wear  the  mask ! 


i 


167 


M 


Lyrics  of  Lowly  Life. 


i| 


II 


THE  MEADOW  LARK. 

'T*HOUGH  the  winds  be  dank, 
-■-       And  the  sky  be  sober, 

And  the  grieving  Day 
In  a  mantle  gray 
Hath  let  her  waiting  maiden  robe  her, — 
All  the  fields  along 
I  can  hear  the  song 
Of  the  meadow  lark, 

As  she  flits  and  flutters, 

And  laughs  at  tlie  thunder  when  it  mutters. 

O  happy  bird,  of  heart  most  gay 

To  sing  when  skies  are  gray ! 

When  the  clouds  are  full, 
And  the  tempest  master 
Lets  the  loud  winds  sweep 
From  his  bosom  deep 

i68 


± 


Lyrics  of  Lowly  Life. 


Like  heralds  of  some  dire  disaster, 
Thea  the  heart  alone 
T<-»  ■^Jf  makes  moan; 
And  the  jongs  come  slow, 

While  the  tears  fall  fleeter, 

And  silence    than    song    by  far 

sweeter. 
Oh,  few  are  they  along  the  way 
Who  sing  when  skies  are  gray  J 


seems 


i- 


V 


mutters. 


ONE  LIFE. 

/^H,  I  am  hurt  to  death,  my  Love  ; 

V>^    The  shafts  of  Fate  have  pierced  my 

striving  heart, 
And  I  am  sick  and  weary  of 

The  endless  pain  and  smart. 
My  soul  is  weary  of  the  strife. 
And  chafes  at  life,  and  chafes  at  life. 

169 


) 
if 


/  I' 


f 


i 


I  i\ 


If 


(J] 

.  .J  i-— ^^ 


m 


Lyrics  of  Lowly  Life. 

Time  mocks  me  with  fair  promises ; 

A  blooming  future  grows  a  barren  past, 
Like  rain  my  fair  full-blossomed  trees 

Unburden  in  the  blast. 
The  harvest  fails  on  grain  and  tree, 
Nor  comes  to  me,  nor  comes  to  me. 


The  stream  that  bears  my  hopes  abreast 
Turns  ever  from  my  way  its  pregnant  tide. 

My  laden  boat,  torn  from  its  rest. 
Drifts  to  the  other  side. 

So  all  my  hopes  are  set  astray. 

And  drift  away,  and  drift  away. 


The  lark  sings  to  me  at  the  mom. 

And  near    me  wings    her    skyward-soaring 
flight ; 
But  pleasure  dies  as  soon  as  born. 

The  owl  takes  up  the  night, 
And  night  seems  long  and  doubly  dark ; 
I  miss  the  lark,  I  miss  the  lark. 

170 


St, 


Lyrics  of  Lowly  Life. 

Let  others  labor  as  they  may, 

I  '11  sing  and  sigh  alone,  and  write  my  line. 
Their  fate  is  theirs,  or  grave  or  gay, 

And  mine  shall  still  be  mine. 
I  know  the  world  holds  joy  and  glee, 
But  not  for  me,  —  't  is  not  for  me. 


It 

t  tide. 


CHANGING  TIME. 


'TPHE  cloud  looked  in  at  the  window, 
■*•      And  said  to  the  day,  "  Be  dark  !  " 
And  the  roguish  rain  tapped  hard  on  the  pane, 
To  stifle  the  song  of  the  lark. 


■soanng 


The  wind  sprang  up  in  the  tree  tops 
And  shrieked  with  a  voice  of  death, 

But  the  rough-voiced  breeze,  that  shook   the 
trees, 
Was  touched  with  a  violet's  breath. 


171 


•1 


II'    ,      t: 

'J  \ 


Lyrics  of  Lowly  Life. 


DEAD. 


1 .1 

rr  'I 

'  'i 


I       -I  M      / ' 


il 


I- 

[4 


A  KNOCK  is  at  her  door,  but  she  is  weak ; 
Strange   dews    have  washed   the   paint 
streaks  from  her  cheek ; 
She  does  not  rise,  but,  ah,  this  friend  is  known, 
And  knows  that  he  will  find  her  all  alone. 
So  opens  he  the  door,  and  with  soft  tread 
Goes  straightway  to  the  richly  curtained  bed. 
His  soft  hand  on  her  dewy  head  he  lays. 
A  strange  white  light  she  gives  him  for  his  gaze. 
Then,  looking  on  the  glory  of  her  charms, 
He  crushes  her  resistless  in  his  arms. 

Stand  back  !  look  not  upon  this  bold  embrace. 
Nor  view  the  calmness  of  the  wanton's  face ; 
With  joy  unspeakable  and  'bated  breath, 
She  keeps  her  last,  long  liaison  with  death  1 


172 


Lyrics  of  Lowly  Life. 


A  CONFIDENCE. 


UNCLE  JOHN,  he  makes  me  tired  ; 
Thinks  'at  he  's  jest  so  all-fired 
Smart,  'at  he  kin  pick  up,  so, 
Ever' thing  he  wants  to  know. 
Tried  to  ketch  me  up  last  night. 
But  you  bet  I  would  n't  bite. 
I  jest  kep'  the  smoothes'  face, 
But  I  led  him  sich  a  chase, 
Could  n't  corner  me,  you  bet  — 
I  skipped  all  the  traps  he  set. 
Makin'  out  he  wan'ed  to  know 
Who  was  this  an'  that  girl's  beau  ; 
So 's  he  'd  find  out,  don't  you  see, 
Who  was  goin'  'long  with  me. 
But  I  answers  jest  ez  sly. 
An'  I  never  winks  my  eye, 
Tell  he  hollers  with  a  whirl, 

173 


\ 


•■# 


^! 


Lyrics  of  Lowly  Life. 


V     0. 


"  Look  here,  ain't  you  got  a  girl  ?  " 
Y*  ought  'o  seen  me  spread  my  eyes, 
Like  he  'd  took  me  by  surprise, 
An'  I  said,  "  Oh,  Uncle  John, 
Never  thought  o'  havin'  one." 
An'  somehow  that  seemed  to  tickle 
Him  an'  he  shelled  out  a  nickel. 
Then  you  ought  to  seen  me  leave 
Jest  a-lafifin'  in  my  sleeve. 
Fool  him  —  well,  I  guess  I  did ; 
He  ain't  on  to  this  here  kid. 
Got  a  girl !  well,  I  guess  yes, 
Got  a  dozen  more  or  less. 
But  I  got  one  reely  one, 
Not  no  foolin'  ner  no  fun ; 
Fur  I  'm  sweet  on  her,  you  see. 
An'  I  ruther  guess  'at  she 
Must  be  kinder  sweet  on  me, 
So  we  're  keepin'  company. 
Honest  Injun  !  this  is  true. 
Ever'  word  I  'm  tellin'  you  ! 
But  you  won't  be  sich  a  scab 
Ez  to  run  aroun'  an'  blab. 

174 


Lyrics  of  Lowly  Life. 


''T 


Mebbe  't  ain't  the  way  with  you, 
But  you  know  some  fellers  do. 
Spoils  a  girl  to  let  her  know 
'At  you  talk  about  her  so. 
Don't  you  know  her?  her  name  's  Liz, 
Nicest  girl  in  town  she  is. 
Purty?  ah,  git  out,  you  gilly  — 
Liz  'ud  purt  'nigh  knock  you  silly. 
Y'  ought  'o  see  her  when  she 's  dressed 
All  up  in  her  Sunday  best. 
All  the  fellers  niidgin'  me. 
An'  a-whisperin',  gemunee ! 
Betcher  life  'at  I  feel  proud 
When  she  passes  by  the  crowd. 
'T  's  kinder  nice  to  be  a-goin' 
With  a  girl  'at  makes  some  showin'  — 
One  you  know  'at  hain't  no  snide, 
Makes  you  feel  so  satisfied. 
An'  I  '11  tell  you  she  's  a  trump, 
Never  even  seen  her  jump 
Like  some  silly  girls  'ud  do. 
When  I  'd  hide  and  holler  "  Boo  !  " 
She  'd  jest  laff  an'  say  "  Git  out ! 

175 


i 
I 


.III 


/ 


^"1,  ^ 


I 


u 


1 1 

til 


it  (i;, 


1  f;\i 


^  r 


I  ;- 


1  ^ 


Lyrics  of  Lowly  Life. 

What  you  hollerin'  about?  " 
When  some  girls  'ud  have  a  fit 
That  'un  don't  git  skeered  a  bit, 
Never  makes  a  bit  o'  row 
When  she  sees  a  worm  er  cow. 
Them  kind  's  few  an'  far  between ; 
Bravest  girl  I  ever  seen. 
Tell  you  'nuther  thing  she  '11  do, 
Mebbe  you  won't  think  it 's  true. 
But  if  she  's  jest  got  a  dime 
She  '11  go  halvers  ever'  time. 
Ah,  you  goose,  you  need  n't  lafif ; 
That 's  the  kinder  girl  to  have. 
If  you  knowed  her  like  I  do. 
Guess  you  'd  kinder  like  her  too. 
Tell  you  somep'n'  if  you  '11  swear 
You  won't  tell  it  anywhere. 
Oh,  you  got  to  cross  yer  heart 
Earnest,  truly,  'fore  I  start. 
Well,  one  day  I  kissed  her  cheek ; 
Gee,  but  I  felt  cheap  an'  weak, 
'Cause  at  first  she  kinder  flared, 
'N',  gracious  goodness  !  I  was  scared. 

176 


Lyrics  of  Lowly  Life. 

But  I  need  n't  been,  fer  la ! 
Why,  she  never  told  her  ma. 
That 's  what  I  call  grit,  don't  you? 
Sich  a  girl 's  worth  stickin'  to. 


PHYLLIS. 

PHYLLIS,  ah,  Phyllis,  my  life  is  a  gray  day, 
Few  are  my  years,  but  my  griefs  are  not 
few, 
Ever  to  youth  should  each  day  be  a  May- day. 
Warm  wind  and  rose-breath  and  diamonded 
dew  — 
Phyllis,  ah,  Phyllis,  my  life  is  a  gray  day. 


ired. 


Oh  for  the  sunlight  that  shines  on  a  May-day  ! 

Only  the  cloud  hangeth  over  my  life. 
Love  that  should   bring  me   youth's   happiest 
heyday 
Brings  me  but  seasons  of  sorrow  and  strife ; 
Phyllis,  ah,  Phyllis,  my  life  is  a  gray  day. 

177 


12 


Lyrics  of  Lowly  Life. 

Sunshine  or  shadow,  or  gold  day  or  gray  day, 
Life  must  be  lived  as  our  destinies  rule ; 

Leisure  or  labor  or  work  day  or  play  day  — 
Feasts  for  the  famous  and  fun  for  the  fool ; 

Phyllis,  ah,  Phyllis,  my  life  is  a  gray  day. 


RIGHT'S  SECURITY. 


WHAT  if  the  wind  do  howl  without, 
And  turn  the  creaking  weather-vane ; 
What  if  the  arrows  of  the  rain 
Do  beat  against  the  window-pane  ? 
Art  thou  not  armored  strong  and  fast 
Against  the  sallies  of  the  blast  ? 
Art  thou  not  sheltered  safe  and  well 
Against  the  flood's  insistent  swell? 

What  boots  it,  that  thou  stand'st  alone. 
And  laughest  in  the  battle's  face 
When  all  the  weak  have  fled  the  place 
And  let  their  feet  and  fears  keep  pace  ? 

178 


i  '1 
j'V 

1/:- 


Lyrics  of  Lowly  Life. 

Thou  wavest  still  thine  ensign,  high, 
And  shoutest  thy  loud  battle-cry ; 
Higher  than  e'er  the  tempest  roaied, 
It  cleaves  the  silence  like  a  sword. 

Right  arms  and  armors,  too,  that  man 
Who  will  not  compromise  with  wrong ; 
Though  single,  he  must  front  the  throng, 
And  wage  the  battle  hard  and  long. 
Minorities,  since  time  began. 
Have  shown  the  better  side  of  man ; 
And  often  in  the  lists  of  Time 
One  man  has  made  a  cause  sublime  ! 


IF. 

IF  life  were  but  a  dream,  my  Love, 
And  death  the  waking  time ; 
If  day  had  not  a  beam,  my  Love, 
And  night  had  not  a  rhyme, — 

A  barren,  barren  world  were  this 
Without  one  saving  gleam  ; 
I  'd  only  ask  that  with  a  kiss 

You  'd  wake  me  from  the  dream. 
179 


Lyrics  of  Lowly  Life. 


If  1 ' ' 


If  dreaming  were  the  sum  of  days, 

And  loving  were  the  bane ; 
If  battling  for  a  wreath  of  bays 
Could  soothe  a  heart  in  pain,  — 

I  'd  scorn  the  rneed  of  battle's  might, 
All  other  aims  above 
I  'd  choose  the  human's  higher  right, 
To  suffer  and  to  love ! 


THE  SONG. 


MY  soul,  lost  in  the  music's  mist, 
Roamed,  rapt,  'neath  skies  of  amethyst. 
The  cheerless  streets  grew  summer  meads, 
The  Son  of  Phoebus  spurred  his  steeds. 
And,  wand'ring  down  the  mazy  tune, 
December  lost  its  way  in  June, 
While  from  a  verdant  vale  I  heard 
The  piping  of  a  love-lorn  bird. 

A  something  in  the  tender  strain 
Revived  an  old,  long-conquered  pain, 

1 80 


Lyrics  of  Lowly  Life. 


s  might, 
sr  right, 


amethyst, 
ads, 


And  as  in  depths  of  many  seas, 
My  heart  was  drowned  in  memories. 
The  tears  came  welling  to  my  eyes. 
Nor  could  I  ask  it  otherwise  ; 
For,  oh  !  a  sweetness  seems  to  last 
Amid  the  dregs  of  sorrows  past. 

It  stirred  a  chord  that  here  of  late 
I  'd  grown  to  think  could  not  vibrate. 
It  brought  me  back  the  trust  of  youth. 
The  world  again  was  joy  and  truth. 
And  Avice,  blooming  like  a  bride. 
Once  more  stood  trusting  at  my  side. 
But  still,  with  bosom  desolate. 
The  'lorn  bird  sang  to  find  his  mate. 

Then  there  are  trees,  and  lights  and  stars, 
The  silv'ry  tinkle  of  guitars ; 
And  throbs  again  as  throbbed  that  waltz, 
Before  I  knew  that  hearts  were  false. 
Then  like  a  cold  wave  on  a  shore. 
Comes  silence  and  she  sings  no  more. 
I  wake,  I  breathe,  I  think  again. 
And  walk  the  sordid  ways  of  men. 

i8i 


Lyrics  of  Lowly  Life. 


!■' 


1' 


'     .    I 


,i' 


I   ; 
I   I 


'i^ 


SIGNS  OF  THE  TIMES. 

AIR  a-gittin'  cool  an'  coolah, 
Frost  a-comin'  in  de  night, 
Hicka*  nuts  an'  wa'nuts  fallin', 
Possum  keepin'  out  o'  sight. 
Tu'key  struttin'  in  de  ba'nya'd, 

Nary  step  so  proud  ez  his ; 
Keep  on  struttin*,  Mi^tah  Tu'key, 
Yo*  do'  know  whut  time  it  is. 

Cidah  press  commence  a-squeakin* 

Eatin'  apples  sto'ed  away, 
Chillun  swa'min'  'roun'  lak  ho'nets, 

Huntin'  aigs  ermung  de  hay. 
Mistah  Tu'key  keep  on  gobblin* 

At  de  geese  a-flyin'  souf. 
Oomph  !  dat  bird  do'  know  whut  *s  comin' ; 

Ef  he  did  he  'd  shet  his  mouf. 

Pumpkin  gittin'  good  an'  yallah 
Mek  me  open  up  my  eyes ; 

182 


»' . 


Lyrics  of  Lowly  Life. 

Seems  lak  it  *s  a-lookin'  at  me 
Jes'  a-la'in'  dah  sayin'  "  Pies." 

Tu'key  gobbler  gwine  'roun'  blowin', 
Gvvine  'roun'  gibbin'  sass  an'  slack ; 

Keep  on  talkin',  Mistah  Tu'key, 
You  ain't  seed  no  almanac. 

Fa'mer  walkin'  th'oo  de  ba'nya'd 

Seein'  how  things  is  comin'  on, 
Sees  ef  all  de  fowls  is  fatt'nin'  — 

Good  times  comin*  sho  's  you  bo'n. 
Hyeahs  dat  tu'key  gobbler  braggin'. 

Den  his  face  break  in  a  smile  — 
Nebbah  min',  you  sassy  rascal, 

He 's  gwine  nab  you  atter  while. 

Choppin'  suet  in  de  kitchen, 

Stonin'  raisins  in  de  hall. 
Beef  a-cookin'  fu'  de  mince  meat. 

Spices  groun'  —  I  smell  'em  all. 
Look  hyeah,  Tu'key,  stop  dat  gobblin'. 

You  ain'  luned  de  sense  ob  feah, 
You  ol'  fool,  yo'  naik  's  in  dangah. 

Do'  you  know  Thanksgibbin  's  hyeah  i» 

183 


J 


■ 


¥ 


,'  1 1. 


l: 


'! 


f! 


Lyrics  of  Lowly  Life. 


WHY  FADES  A  DREAM? 

WHY  fades  a  dream ? 
An  iridescent  ray 
Flecked  in  between  the  tryst 
Of  night  and  day. 
Why  fades  a  dream  ?  — 
Of  consciousness  the  shade 
Wrought  out  by  lack  of  light  and  made 
Upon  life's  stream. 
Why  fades  a  dream? 

That  thought  may  thrive, 

So  fades  the  fleshless  dream ; 
Lest  men  should  learn  to  trust 

The  things  that  seem. 

So  fades  a  dream, 
That  living  thought  may  grow 
And  like  a  waxing  star-beam  glow 

Upon  life's  stream  — 

So  fades  a  dream. 

184 


•"'•»... 


Lyrics  of  Lowly  Life. 


THE  SPARROW. 

A  LITTLE  bird,  with  plumage  brown, 
Beside  my  window  flutters  down, 
A  moment  chirps  its  little  strain, 
Then  taps  upon  my  window-pane, 
And  chirps  again,  and  hops  along. 
To  call  my  notice  to  its  song ; 
But  I  work  on,  nor  heed  its  lay. 
Till,  in  neglect,  it  flies  away. 


V 

f 

\ 


So  birds  of  peace  and  hope  and  love 
Come  fluttering  earthward  from  above, 
To  settle  on  life's  window-sills, 
And  ease  our  load  of  earthly  ills ; 
But  we,  in  traffic's  rush  and  din 
Too  deep  engaged  to  let  them  in. 
With  deadened  heart  and  sense  plod  on. 
Nor  know  our  loss  till  they  are  gone. 


(< 


■'<r 


)  I 


i8s 


I  < 


Lyrics  of  Lowly  Life. 


SPEAKIN'  O'  CHRISTMAS. 


if     i 


I      , 


BREEZES  blowin'  middlin'  brisk, 
Snow-flakes  thro'  the  air  a-whisk, 
Fallin'  kind  o'  soft  an'  light, 
Not  enough  to  make  things  white, 
But  jest  sorter  siftin'  down 
So  's  to  cover  up  the  brown 
Of  the  dark  world's  rugged  ways 
'N'  make  things  look  like  holidays. 
Not  smoothed  over,  but  jest  specked, 
Sorter  strainin'  fur  effect. 
An'  not  quite  a-gittin'  through 
What  it  started  in  to  do. 
Mercy  sakes  !  it  does  seem  queer 
Christmas  day  is  'most  nigh  here. 
Somehow  it  don't  seem  to  me 
Christmas  like  it  used  to  be,  — 
Christmas  with  its  ice  an'  snow, 
Christmas  of  the  long  ago. 
You  could  feel  its  stir  an'  hum 

i86 


Lyrics  of  Lowly  Life. 


Weeks  an'  weeks  before  it  come ; 
Somethin'  in  the  atmosphere 
Told  you  when  the  day  was  near, 
Did  n't  need  no  almanacs  ; 
That  was  one  o'  Nature's  fac's. 
Every  cottage  decked  out  gay  — 
Cedar  wreaths  an'  holly  spray  — 
An'  the  stores,  how  they  were  drest. 
Tinsel  tell  you  could  n't  rest ; 
Every  winder  fixed  up  pat, 
Candy  canes,  an'  things  like  that ; 
Noah's  arks,  an'  guns,  an'  dolls, 
An'  all  kinds  o'  fol-de-rols. 
Then  with  frosty  bells  a- chime, 
Slidin'  down  the  hills  o'  time, 
Right  amidst  the  fun  an'  din 
Christmas  come  a-bustlin'  in, 
Raised  his  cheery  voice  to  call 
Out  a  welcome  to  us  all 
Hale  and  hearty,  strong  an'  bluff. 
That  was  Christmas,  sure  enough. 
Snow  knee-deep  an'  coastin'  fine, 
Frozen  mill-ponds  all  ashine, 
187 


I! 


'M 


''  I 


f  i  J  ii 


'7 


rif 


I.      ' 


1 

I'/ 

I 


■  I. 


/. 


Lyrics  of  Lowly  Life. 

Seemin'  jest  to  lay  in  wait, 
Beggin'  you  to  come  an'  skate. 
An'  you  'd  git  your  gal  an'  go 
Stumpin'  cheerily  thro'  the  snow, 
Feelin'  pleased  an'  skeert  an'  warm 
'Cause  she  had  a-holt  yore  arm. 
Why,  when  Christmas  come  in,  we 
Spent  the  whole  glad  day  in  glee, 
Havin'  fun  an'  feastin'  high 
An'  some  courtin'  on  the  sly. 
Bustin'  in  some  neighbor's  door 
An'  then  suddenly,  before 
He  could  give  his  voice  a  lift, 
Yellin'  at  him,  "  Christmas  gift." 
Now  sich  things  are  never  heard, 
"  Merry  Christmas  "  is  the  word. 
But  it 's  only  change  o'  name. 
An'  means  givin'  jest  the  same. 
There 's  too  many  new-styled  ways 
Now  about  the  holidays. 
I  'd  jest  like  once  more  to  see 
Christmas  like  it  used  to  be  1 

i88 


Lyrics  of  Lowly  Life. 


LONESOME 

MOTHER'S  gone   a-visitin'   to   spend   a 
month  er  two, 
An',  oh,  the  house  is  lonesome  ez  a  nest  whose 

birds  has  flew 
To  other  trees  to  build  ag'in ;  the  rooms  seem 

jest  so  bare 
That  the   echoes  run  like   sperrits   from  the 

kitchen  to  the  stair. 
The  shetters  flap  more  lazy-like  'n  what  they 

used  to  do, 
Sence   mother's    gone    a-visitin'   to  spend  a 

month  er  two. 


We've  killed   the   fattest  chicken  an'  we've 

cooked  her  to  a  turn ; 
We  've  made  the  richest  gravy,  but  I  jest  don't 

give  a  durn 
Fur  nothin'  'at  I  drink  er  eat,  er  nothin'  'at  I 

see. 

189 


!l 


! 


I 


\ 


Lyrics  of  Lowly  Life. 

The  food  ain't  got  the  pleasant  taste  it  used  to 

have  to  me. 
They 's  somep'n'  stickin'  in  my  throat  ez  tight 

ez  hardened  glue, 
Sence    mother's  gone    a-visitin'   to   spend  a 

month  er  two. 

The  hollyhocks  air  jest  ez  pink,  they  *re  double 

ones  at  that, 
An'  I  wuz  prouder  of  'em  than  a  baby  of  a  cat. 
But  now  I  don't  go  near  'em,  though  they  nod 

an'  blush  at  me. 
Fur  they 's  somep'n'  seems  to  gall  me  in  their 

keerless  sort  o'  glee 
An'  all  their  fren'ly  noddin'  an'  their  blushin' 

seems  to  say : 
"You're  purty  lonesome,  John,  old  boy,  sence 

mother's  gone  away." 


I 


The   neighbors    ain't   so   fren'ly   ez   it    seems 

they  'd  ort  to  be  ; 

They  seem  to  be  a-lookin'  kinder  sideways  like 

at  me, 

190 


Lyrics  of  Lowly  Life. 


used  to 

ez  tight 

spend  a 

!  double 


A-kinder  feared  they  'd  tech  me  oflf  ez  ef  I  wuz 

a  match, 
An'   all  because   'at  mother 's  gone   an'   I  'm 

a-keepin'  batch ! 
I  'm  shore  I  don't  do  nothin'  worse  'n  what  I 

used  to  do 
Tore  mother  went  a-visitin'  to  spend  a  month 

er  two. 


>f  a  cat. 
hey  nod 

in  their 

blushin' 

j^,  sence 

seems 
ays  like 


The  sparrers  ac's  more  fearsome  like  an'  won't 

hop  quite  so  near, 
The  cricket's  chirp  is  sadder,  an'  the  sky  ain't 

ha'f  so  clear ; 
When  ev'nin'  comes,  I  set  an'  smoke  tell  my 

eyes  begin  to  swim, 
An'  things  aroun'  commence  to  look  all  blurred 

an'  faint  an'  dim. 
Well,  I  guess  I  '11  have  to  own  up  'at  I  'm  feelin' 

purty  blue 
Sence   mother's    gone    a-visitin*   to   spend   a 

month  er  two. 


191 


Lyrics  of  Lowly  Life. 


GROWIN'  GRAY. 


X 


HELLO,  ole  man,  you  *re  a-gittin'  gray. 
An'  it  beats  ole  Ned  to  see  the  way 
'At  the  crow's  feet 's  a-getherin'  aroun'  yore  eyes ; 
Tho'  it  ought  n't  to  cause  me  no  su'prise, 
Fur  there 's  many  a  sun  'at  you  've  seen  rise 
An'  many  a  one  you  've  seen  go  down 
Sence  yore  step  was  light  an'  yore  hair  was 

brown. 
An'  storms  an'  snows  have  had  their  way  — 
Hello,  ole  man,  you  're  a-gittin'  gray. 

Hello,  ole  man,  you  're  a-gittin'  gray. 
An'  the  youthful  pranks  'at  you  used  to  play 
Are  dreams  of  a  far  past  long  ago 
That  lie  in  a  heart  where  the  fires  burn  low  — 
That  has  lost  the  flame  though  it  kept  the  glow, 
An'  spite  of  drivin'  snow  an'  storm, 
Beats  bravely  on  forever  warm. 
December  holds  the  place  of  May  — 
Hello,  ole  man,  you  're  a-gittin'  gray. 

192 


.(  I 


Lyrics  of  Lowly  Life. 


way 
re  eyes ; 

e, 
rise 

lair  was 


play 

low  — 
he  glow, 


Hello,  ole  man,  you  're  a-gittin'  gray  — 
Who  cares  what  the  carpin'  youngsters  say  ? 
For,  after  all,  when  the  tale  is  told. 
Love  proves  if  a  man  is  young  or  old  ! 
Old  age  can't  make  the  heart  grow  cold 
When  it  does  the  will  of  an  honest  mind ; 
When  it  beats  with  love  fur  all  mankind ; 
Then  the  night  but  leads  to  a  fairer  day  — 
Hello,  ole  man,  you  're  a-gittin'  gray  ! 


TO  THE  MEMORY  OF  MARY  YOUNG. 

GOD  has  his  plans,  and  what  if  we 
With  our  sight  be  too  blind  to  see 
Their  full  fruition ;  cannot  he, 
Who  made  it,  solve  the  mystery? 
One  whom  we  loved  has  fall'n  asleep. 
Not  died ;  although  her  calm  be  deep, 
Some  new,  unknown,  and  strange  surprise 
In  Heaven  holds  enrapt  her  eyes. 
13  '93 


t,.1t 


Lyrics  of  Lowly  Life. 

And  can  you  blame  her  that  her  gaze 
Is  turned  away  from  earthly  ways, 
When  to  her  eyes  God's  light  and  love 
Have  giv'n  the  view  of  things  above  ? 
A  gentle  spirit  sweetly  good, 
The  pearl  of  precious  womanhood ; 
Who  heard  the  voice  of  duty  clear, 
And  found  her  mission  soon  and  near. 


ii 


J^ 


i' 


She  loved  all  nature,  flowers  fair. 
The  warmth  of  sun,  the  kiss  of  air. 
The  birds  that  filled  the  sky  with  song, 
The  stream  that  laughed  its  way  along. 
Her  home  to  her  was  shrine  and  throne, 
But  one  love  held  her  not  alone ; 
She  sought  out  poverty  and  grief, 
Who  touched  her  robe  and  found  relief. 


h 


So  sped  she  in  her  Master's  work. 
Too  busy  and  too  brave  to  shirk. 
When  through  the  silence,  dusk  and  dim, 
God  called  her  and  she  fled  to  him. 

194 


\y   i\ 


{( 'i 


Lyrics  of  Lowly  Life. 

We  wonder  at  the  early  call, 
And  tears  of  sorrow  can  but  fall 
For  her  o'er  whom  we  spread  the  pall ; 
But  faith,  sweet  faith,  is  over  all. 

The  house  is  dust,  the  voice  is  dumb, 
But  through  undying  years  to  come, 
The  spark  that  glowed  within  her  soul 
Shall  light  our  footsteps  to  the  goal. 
She  went  her  way ;  but  oh,  she  trod 
The  path  that  led  her  straight  to  God. 
Such  lives  as  this  put  death  to  scorn ; 
They  lose  our  day  to  find  God's  morn. 


WHEN  MALINDY  SINGS. 

/^^'VVAY  an'  quit  dat  noise,  Miss  Lucy 
^^--'     Put  dat  music  book  away ; 
What 's  de  use  to  keep  on  tryin'  ? 
Ef  you  practise  twell  you  're  gray, 

19s 


Lyrics  of  Lowly  Life. 

You  cain't  sta't  no  notes  a-flyin' 
Lak  de  ones  dat  rants  and  rings 

F'om  de  kitchen  to  de  big  woods 
When  Malindy  sings. 


I 


You  ain't  got  de  nachel  o'gans 

Fu*  to  make  de  soun'  come  right, 
You  ain't  got  de  tu'ns  an'  twistin's 

Fu'  to  make  it  sweet  an'  light. 
Tell  you  one  thing  now,  Miss  Lucy, 

An'  I  'm  tellin*  you  fu'  true, 
When  hit  comes  to  raal  right  singin*, 

'T  ain't  no  easy  thing  to  do. 


Easy  'nough  fu'  folks  to  hollah, 

Lookin'  at  de  lines  an'  dots, 
When  dey  ain't  no  one  kin  sence  it, 

An'  de  chune  comes  in,  in  spots ; 
But  fu'  real  melojous  music, 

Dat  jes'  strikes  yo'  hea't  and  clings, 
Jes'  you  Stan'  an'  listen  wif  me 

When  Malindy  sings. 
196 


Lyrics  of  Lowly  Life. 

Ain't  you  nevah  hyeahd  Malindy? 

Blessed  soul,  tek  up  de  cross  I 
Look  hyeah,  ain't  you  jokin',  honey? 

Well,  you  don't  know  whut  you  los'. 
Y '  ought  to  hyeah  dat  gal  a-wa'blin', 

Robins,  la'ks,  an'  all  dem  things, 
Heish  dey  moufs  an'  hides  dey  faces 

When  Malindy  sings. 

Fiddlin'  man  jes'  stop  his  fiddlin', 

Lay  his  fiddle  on  de  she'f ; 
Mockin'-bird  quit  tryin'  to  whistle, 

'Cause  he  jes'  so  shamed  hisse'f. 
Folks  a-playin'  on  de  banjo 

Draps  dey  fingahs  on  de  strings  — 
Bless  yo'  soul  —  fu'gits  to  move  'em, 

When  Malindy  sings. 


She  jes'  spreads  huh  mouf  and  hollahs, 
"  Come  to  Jesus,"  twell  you  hyeah 

Sinnahs'  tremblin'  steps  and  voices, 
Timid- lak  a-drawin'  neah; 
197 


Lyrics  of  Lowly  Life. 


'i: 


vy^ 


Den  she  tu'ns  to  "  Rock  of  Ages," 
Simply  to  de  cross  she  clings, 

An'  you  fin'  yo'  teahs  a-drappin' 
When  Malindy  sings. 

Who  dat  says  dat  humble  praises 

Wif  de  Master  nevah  counts  ? 
Heish  yo'  mouf,  I  hyeah  dat  music, 

Ez  hit  rises  up  an'  mounts  — 
Floatin'  by  de  hills  an'  valleys, 

Way  above  dis  buryin'  sod, 
Ez  hit  makes  its  way  in  glory 

To  de  very  gates  of  God  ! 

Oh,  hit 's  sweetah  dan  de  music 

Of  an  edicated  band ; 
An'  hit 's  dearah  dan  de  battle's 

Song  o'  triumph  in  de  Ian'. 
It  seems  holier  dan  evenin' 

When  de  solemn  chu'ch  bell  rings, 
Ez  I  sit  an'  ca'mly  listen 

While  Malindy  sings. 
198 


J- 


f» 


Lyrics  of  Lowly  Life. 

Towsah,  stop  dat  ba'kin',  hyeah  me  I 

Mandy,  mek  dat  chile  keep  still  ; 
Don't  you  hyeah  de  echoes  callin'  ' 

F'omde  valley  to  de  hill? 
Let  me  listen,  I  can  hyeah  it, 

Th'oo  de  bresh  of  angel's  wings, 
Sof  an'  sweet,  "Swing  Low,  Sweet  Chariot," 

Ez  Malindy  sings. 


THE  PARTY. 

■pVEY  had  a  gread  big  pahty  down  to  Tom's 
•*-^       deothah  night; 

Wasldah?    You  bet!     I  nevah  in  my  life  see 
sich  a  sight  ; 

All  de  folks  fom  fou'  plantations  was  invited,  an' 
dey  come, 

Dey  come  troopin'  thick  ez  chillun  when  dey 

hyeahs  a  fife  an'  drum. 
Evahbody  dressed  deir  fines'  -  Heish  yo'  mouf 

an'  git  away, 

199 


I»    t 


Lyrics  of  Lowly  Life. 


I 

1- 

•  If/ 


!  I 


Ain't   seen  no   sich  fancy  dressin'  sence   las* 

quah'tly  meetin'  day ; 
Gals  all  dressed  in  silks  an'  satins,  not  a  wrinkle 

ner  a  crease, 
Eyes  a-battin',  teeth  a-shinin',  haih  breshed  back 

ez  slick  ez  grease ; 
Sku'ts  all  tucked  an'  puffed  an'  ruffled,  evah 

blessed  seam  an'  stitch ; 
Ef  you'd  seen  'em  wif  deir  mistus,  couldn't 

swahed  to  which  was  which. 
Men  all  dressed  up  in  Prince  Alberts,  swaller- 

tails  'u'd  tek  yo'  bref ! 
I  cain't  tell  you  nothin'  'bout  it,  y'  ought  to  seen 

it  fu'  yo'se'f. 
Who  was  dah?     Now  who  you  askin'?     How 

you  'spect  I  gwine  to  know? 
You  mus'  think  I  stood  an'  counted  evabbody  at 

de  do'. 
Ole  man  Babah's  house-boy  Isaac,  brung  dat 

gal,  Malindy  Jane, 
Huh  a-hangin'  to  his  elbow,  him  a-struttin'  wif 


a  cane ; 


200 


Lyrics  of  Lowly  Life. 


My,  but  Hahvey  Jones  was  jealous  !  seemed  to 

stick  him  lak  a  tlio'n ; 
But  he  laughed  with  Viney  Cahteh,  tryin'  ha'd 

to  not  let  on, 
But  a  pusson  would  'a'  noticed  f  om  de  d'rection 

of  his  look, 
Dat  he  was  watchin'  ev'ry  step  dat   Ike  an* 

Lindy  took. 
Ike  he  foun'  a  cheer  an'  asked  huh :  "  Won't 

you  set  down?  "  wif  a  smile, 
An'  she  answe'd  up  a-bowin',  "  Oh,  I  reckon 

't  ain't  wuth  while." 
Dat  was  jes'  fu'  style,  I  reckon,  'cause  she  sot 

down  jes'  de  same, 
An'  she  stayed  dah  'twell  he  fetched  huh  fu'  to 

jine  some  so't  o'  game ; 
Den  I  hyeahd  huh  sayin'  propah,  ez  she  riz  to 

go  away, 
"  Oh,  you  raly  mus'  excuse  me,  fu'  I  hardly 

keers  to  play." 
But  I  seen  huh  in  a  minute  wif  de  othahs  on  de 

flo', 

201 


i  ' 


If 


f  ( 


Lyrics  of  Lowly  Life. 
An'  dah  was  n't  any  one  o'  dem  a-playin'  any 


> . 


mo 
Comin'  down  de  flo'  a-bowin'  an'  a-swayin'  an' 

a-swingin', 
Puttin'  on  huh  high-toned  mannahs  all  de  time 

dat  she  was  singin' : 
"  Oh,  swing  Johnny  up  an'  down,  swing  him  all 

aroun', 
Swing  Johnny  up  an'  down,  swing  him  all  aroun', 
Oh,  swing  Johnny  up  an'  down,  swing  him  all 

aroun'. 
Fa'  you  well,  my  dahlin'." 
Had  to  laff  at  ole  man  Johnson,  he 's  a  caution 

now,  you  bet  — 
Hittin'  clost  onto  a  hunderd,  but  he 's  spry  an' 

nimble  yet ; 
He  'lowed  how  ?-so't  o'  gigglin',  "  I  ain't  ole, 

I  '11  let  you  see, 
D'ain't  no  use  in  gittin'  feeble,  now  you  young- 

stahs  jes'  watch  me," 
An'  he  grabbed  ole  Aunt  Marier  —  weighs  th'ee 

hunderd  mo'  er  less, 

202 


hi 


Lyrics  of  Lowly  Life. 


lyin'  any 


ayin'  an' 


de  time 

;  him  all 

11  aroun', 
him  all 


L  caution 
spry  an' 
in't  ole, 
1  young- 
:hs  th'ee 


An'  he  spun  huh  'roun'  de  cabin  swingin'  Johnny 

lak  de  res'. 
Evahbody  laffed  an'  hollahed  :  "  Go  it !  Swing 

huh,  Uncle  Jim  !" 
An'  he  swung  huh  too,  I  reckon,  lak  a  youngstah, 

who  but  him. 
Dat  was  bettah  'n  young  Scott  Thomas,  tryin'  to 

be  so  awful  smaht. 
You  know  when  dey  gits   to  singin'  an'  dey 

comes  to  dat  ere  paht : 

"  In  some  lady's  new  brick  house, 

In  some  lady's  gyahden. 

Ef  you  don't  let  me  out,  I  will  jump  out, 

So  fa'  you  well,  my  dahlin'." 
Den  dey 's  got  a  circle  'roun'  you,  an'  you 's  got 

to  break  de  line ; 
Well,  dat  dahky  was  so  anxiouh>,  lak  to  bust  his- 

se'f  a-tryin' ; 
Kep'  on  blund'rin'  'roun*  an'  foolin'  'twell  he 

giv'  one  gread  big  jump, 
Broke  de  line,  an'  lit  head-fo'most  in  de  fiah- 

place  right  plump ; 

203 


Lyrics  of  Lowly  Life. 


iV" 


W 


ri 


h 


t 


% 


IT 


.  I 

(i 


! 


Hit  'ad  fiah  in  it,  mind  you ;  well,  I  thought  my 

soul  I  'd  bust, 
Tried   my   best   to  keep  fom   laffin',  but  hit 

seemed  like  die  I  must ! 
Y'  ought  to  seen  dat  man  a-scramblin'  fom  de 

ashes  an'  de  grime. 
Did  it  bu'n  him  !  Sich  a  question,  why  he  did  n't 

give  it  time ; 
Th'ow'd   dem   ashes   and    dem   cindahs   evah 

which-a-way  I  guess. 
An'  you  nevah  did,  I  reckon,  clap  yo'  eyes  on 

sich  a  mess ; 
Fu'  he  sholy  made  a  picter  an'  a  funny  one  to 

boot, 
Wif  his  clothes  all  full  o'  ashes  an'  his  face  all 

full  o'  soot. 
Well,  hit  laked  to  stopped  de  pahty,  an'  I  reckon 

lak  ez  not 
Dat  it  would  ef  Tom's  wife,  Mandy,  hadn't 

happened  on  de  spot, 
To  invite  us  out  to  suppah  —  well,  we  scrambled 

to  de  table, 

204 


Lyrics  of  Lowly  Life. 

An'  I  'd  lak  to  tell  you  'bout  it  —  what  we  had 

—  but  I  ain't  able, 
Mention  jes'   a  few  things,  dough  I   know   I 

had  n't  orter, 
Fu'  I  know  't  will  staht  a  hank'rin'  an'  yo'  moul 


'11  'mence  to  worter. 
We  had  wheat  bread  white  ez  cotton  an'  a  egg 

pone  jes  like  gol', 
Hog  jole,  bilin'  hot  an'  steamin'  roasted  shoat 

an'  ham  sliced  cold  — 
Lookout!  What's  de  mattah  wif  you  ?    Don't 

be  fallin'  on  de  flo' ; 
Ef  it 's  go'n'  to  'feet  you  dat  way,  I  won't  tell  you 

nothin'  mo'. 
Dah  now  —  well,  we  had  hot  chittlin's  —  now 

you  's  tryin'  ag'in  to  fall, 
Cain't  you  stan'  to  hyeah  about  it  ?  S'pose  you  'd 

been  an'  seed  it  all ; 
Seed  dem  gread  big  sweet  pertaters,  layin'  by 

de  possum's  side, 
Seed  dat  coon  in  all  his  gravy,  reckon  den  you  'd 

up  and  died  ! 

205 


Lyrics  of  Lowly  Life. 


I 


11 


u 


!» 

(- 


Mandy  'lowed  "  you  all  mus'  'scuse  me,  d*  wa'n't 

much  upon  my  she'ves, 
But  I 's  done  my  bes'  to  suit  you,  so  set  down 

an'  he'p  yo'se'ves." 
Tom,  he  'lowed  :  "  I  don't  b'lieve  in  'pologisin' 

an'  perfessin', 
Let  'em  tek  it  lak  dey  ketch  it.  Eldah  Thompson, 

ask  de  blessin'." 
Wish  you'd  seed  dat  colo'ed  preachah  cleah 

his  th'oat  an'  bow  his  head ; 
One  eye  shet,  an'  one  eye  open,  —  dis  is  evah 

wud  he  said : 
**  Lawd,  look  down  in  tendah  mussy  on  sich  gen- 
erous hea'ts  ez  dese ; 
Make  us  truly  thankful,  amen.    Pass  dat  possum, 

ef  you  please  !  " 
Well,  we  eat  and  drunk  ouah  po'tion,  'twell  dah 

wasn't  nothiii'  lef. 
An'  we  felt  jes'  like  new  sausage,  we  was  mos' 

nigh  stuffed  to  def ! 
Tom,  he  knowed  how  we  'd  be  feelin',  so  he  had 

de  fiddlah  'roun*, 

206 


i 


Lyrics  of  Lowly   Life. 

An'  he  made  us  cleah  de  cabin  fu'  to  dance  dat 

suppah  down. 
Jim,  de  fiddlah,  chuned  his  fiddle,  put  some 

rosum  on  his  bow. 
Set  a  pine  box  on  de  table,  mounted  it  an'  let 

huh  go ! 
He  's  a  fiddlah,  now  I  tell  you,  an'  he  made  dat 

fiddle  ring, 
'Twell  de  ol'est  an'  de  lamest  had  to  give  deir 

feet  a  fling. 
Jigs,  cotillions,  reels  an'  break-downs,  cord  rills 

an*  a  waltz  er  two ; 
Bless  yo'  soul,  dat  music  winged  'em  an'  dem 

people  lak  to  flew. 
Cripple  Joe,  de  ole  rheumatic,  danced  dat  flo' 

f  om  side  to  middle, 
Th'owed  away  his  crutch  an'  hopped  it,  what 's 

rheumatics  'ginst  a  fiddle  ? 
Eldah  Thompson  got  so  tickled  dat  he  lak  to 

los'  his  grace. 
Had  to  tek  bofe  feet  an'  hoi'  dem  so  's  to  keep 

'em  in  deir  place. 

207 


■IIJ 


V^ 


'i.i'' 


Lyrics  of  Lowly  Life. 

An'  de  Christuns  an'  de  sinnahs  got  so  mi-^ed 

ap  on  dat  flo', 
Dat  I  don't  see  how  dey  'd  pahted  ef  de  trump 

had  chanced  to  blow. 
Well,  we  danced  dat  way  an*  capahed  in  de  mos* 

redic'lous  way, 
'Twell  de  roostahs  in  de  bahnyard  cleahed  deir 

th'oats  an'  crowed  fu'  day. 
Y'  ought  to  been  dah,  fu'  I  tell  you  evahthing 

was  rich  an'  prime, 
An'  dey  ain't  no  use  in  talkin',  we  jes  had  one 

scrumptious  time  ! 


I  i  •, 


i  . 

; .  t: 


i 


il 


208 


30  mi-^ed 

de  trump 

-*. 

1  de  mos* 

ahed  deir 

evahthing 

had  one 

